Tomb Raider 2013: Not Alone
by gamePsycho11
Summary: The 2013 game with a male supporting OC. Rating for violence, language, lemon and rape.
1. Prologue

This was co-written with my friend XFangHeartX. Thanks so much!

I've always loved Tomb Raider, especially the new Survivor Timeline. It's a fresh new perspective on the character. She seemed to actually have feelings instead of just being an emotional hardass.

One thing a lot of people and me were disappointed about was that Lara didn't have a love interest. In the original Tomb Raider games, what ever love interests there were; she either rejected them, didn't accept her feelings (If she had any), or the love interest died.

What surprises me; for the reboot, writers usually pair Lara with Sam. I haven't read any of them, but one author says a lot of them are good. I'm fine if someone wants to write them, but I just don't see it.

So, Fang and I came up with a male original character that's Lara's main love interest, Owen Taylor. And he's with her on Yamatai so she doesn't have to endure it alone. :)

I don't own anything from Tomb Raider.

Owen and any more OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX

* * *

Owen Taylor scanned through the bookshelf till he found what he was looking for. A book on tigers. In his arms were other books about animals, dinosaurs and archeology.

Archeology had always been a passion of his, next to animals.

After a year at UCL, he was learning everything he needed. But even learning extra can help, which was why he was currently at the library.

As he walked out of the aisle of books, he nearly dropped his things when he spotted someone.

It was a girl, around his age. She was the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid his eyes on.

"Whoa...!" he whispered in awe.

She had elegant facial features, light peach skin complexion and deep brown eyes. She had thick, dark brown hair tied up in a ponytail, though she kept the front in a layered and choppy style. She had a slender and toned physique.

She was wearing a green tank top that showed a bit of her decent sized cleavage, and dark blue jeans. She had a jade pendant tied to a braided leather lanyard in a double-loop style around her neck, and two small, silver hoop earrings in her right ear. She also had a digital watch on her right wrist.

She currently had an open book on her right as she typed something in her laptop.

"I see you're checking out the new girl."

Owen looked up to see his best friend, Tommy Louis. A young African American man of average height with black hair and hazel eyes, as well as a blue shirt with the college logo embroidered in it, and a pair of khakis.

"Who is she, anyway?" asked Owen.

"Her name's Lara Croft," said Tommy. "They say her dad's some big-time archaeologist."

"You mean Richard Croft?" Owen asked. "Every professional archeologist thinks his theories were crap."

"Why don't you go and talk to her?" asked Tommy.

"Dude, look at her," Owen said. "She's totally out of my league."

"You don't know that for sure," said Tommy. "Go on! Say something! Break the ice!"

Owen gulped and walked over to her table.

"Uh...hi..."

Lara glanced at him for a second before she went back to reading.

"Hello," she said.

' _She's British_?' Owen thought. ' _Wow..._ '

"Mind if I sit here?" he asked.

"Go ahead," Lara answered without even looking at him.

Owen soon sat down across from her.

"You're...really into that, huh?" he asked.

"Yes," Lara answered quickly, then typed something on her laptop.

' _Now what?_ ' thought Owen.

Being quick, he checked the front cover of the open book then set it back down.  
"You know, it's said that if you wanna be a good archeologist; you gotta get out of the library."

Lara paused in her typing, looked Owen square in the eye, with her eyebrow raised,  
"Who says?"

"Harrison Ford, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," Owen answered.

Lara remained stone-faced for a bit, before she grinned and tried to hold back her laughter.

"You...you really thought that was funny?" asked Owen.

"Sorry," Lara giggled a bit. "Indiana Jones is one of my favorites."

"Mine too," Owen said. "Next to Jurassic Park, despite the people in those movies being complete dumbasses."

Lara noticed his stack of books, "Your book selection definitely supports that."

Owen pulled out a pendant from inside his shirt. It was a brown tooth tied to a braided leather lanyard,  
"This here; a genuine T-Rex tooth."

Lara gasped and leaned across the table to get a closer look,  
"Incredible...! The clear signs of cracks and chips from millions of years of fossilization!"

"Like it?" Owen asked. "It was a birthday gift. Had it since I was 10."

He tried to keep his eyes from staring at her cleavage, which was showing more since she was leaning over.

She didn't notice, thankfully, "It is impressive." She twirled the jade trinket on her neck. "This was my very first ancient finding. I found it in my yard when I was five."

"Well, look at you, Little Miss Archaeologist," Owen smiled.

"When did you decide to take up archaeology?" asked Lara.

"Well, my Mom was a paleontologist," said Owen. "She inspired me...always told me to never give up finding what I'm looking for." He then frowned. "...I...I actually haven't spoken to her in a while."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I would give almost anything to see my mother again," Lara looked down, but then tried to lighten the mood. "Sorry, I forget myself sometimes." She held out her hand. "Lara Croft."

Owen shook her hand, "Owen Taylor."

"So Owen, how long have you been here?" Lara asked.

"Well, I sat here about a minute ago, but I came into the library twenty minutes ago," Owen joked.

Lara laughed, "Smartass! I meant, how long have you been here in London?"

"Oh, about a year," Owen answered. "I'm originally from San Francisco, born and raised."

"Oh, how interesting," said Lara. "And what inspired you to be an archeologist?"

"Just...don't laugh," Owen asked. "...Indiana Jones was my inspiration."

Of course, Lara couldn't hold back her laughter.

Owen couldn't help laughing, too.  
"Yeah, I'll admit; I'm a bit of a nerd!"

"It's fine," Lara laughed. "It's actually cute!"

"Y...you think so?" Owen asked in surprise.

"Absolutely," Lara said.

"Well, I prefer 'good looking'," Owen responded. "Still, it's nice to receive praise from such a beautiful girl."

"Oh, you're sweet," Lara said. "I'm sure you say that to lots of girls, though."

"No...just you," Owen grinned, which caused Lara to smile back at him.

"...You know, I was just about to get lunch," said Lara. "Would you like to join me?"

Owen raised his eyebrow, "Is that an invitation to a date, Miss Lara Croft?"

"Maybe," Lara smiled as she put a bookmark in her book.

She also saved her work on her laptop before she closed it.

"Alright, I just need to check these out, first," Owen said, patting his stack of books.

"We can go after that, then," said Lara.

She gathered her things and he did the same.

At the same time, he glanced in Tommy's direction, who was grinning like a fool and giving him thumbs up!

He then mouthed, "She is fine!"

"I know!" Owen mouthed back.

And thus, Owen and Lara began to hang out, almost every day. Things seemed casual at first. It seemed like they had a friendly relationship...but as the days turned to weeks and the weeks turned to months, things got a little more than friendly between them.

Many months later...in fact, it was a few weeks before graduation, Tommy went out to go look for Owen. It was about 30 minutes before the next lecture and Owen wasn't usually late.

He practically looked all over campus when someone told him they saw Owen up on the roof with Lara.

And they were kissing!

Lara's friend, Sam Nishimura, had also been looking around for them. After hearing Lara talk about Owen almost all the time, Sam practically demanded to meet him. And they hit off.

Seeing the event she knew would happen, she took several pictures of it!

"This is awesome...!" she whispered.

After graduation, Owen made a brief visit back to San Francisco to introduce Lara to his parents.

Needless to say, they loved her instantly.

Owen had also met Lara's guardian, Conrad Roth, who took a while to warm up to him. But after getting to know each other, and insistence from Lara; Roth accepted him. Course, he still gave him the threat a father would give to the guy who dated his daughter.

* * *

This is just a prologue to show how Lara and Owen meet and become a couple.

They obviously have a lot in common. ;)

Next chapter is the start of the 2013 game.


	2. Chapter 1: Shipwrecked

Here's the official start to the story!

I don't own Tomb Raider or it's characters. Owen and Tommy belong to me and XFangHeartX

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Shipwrecked**

 ** _"A famous explorer once said..."_**

A boat is seen exiting a city, with words "Endurance Plymouth" written on the front.

 ** _"...that the extraordinary is in what we do, not who we are."_**

Lara places her phone on her desk and posts a map in her locker among various other pictures.

 ** _"I'd finally set out to make my mark; to find adventure."_**

Lara closes the locker, which had a mirror. She looked at her reflection.

 ** _"But instead, adventure found me."_**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lara sat in her bed, listening to music from her phone, when she heard thunder. Followed by a rumbling sound on the ship.

As she got up to see what was going on, suddenly, the ship was rocked by some waves, causing her to fall out of her bed!

"AAH!" she cried as she hit the floor.

She hit her desk, hard. She got up from where she had fallen, holding her bruised head.

She felt slightly dizzy and knew she had a slight concussion.

She went out into the hallway, only to be greeted by a sheer amount of water flooding the hallway.

Before she could close the door, she ended up getting swept away!

 ** _"In our darkest moments…"_**

As she drifted along the massive water current, she desperately tried to breath. She spotted a ladder and luckily grabbed onto it. She tightened her grip to prevent the rest of her body from being swept away. She climbed up the ladder and swam at the same time and as she hit the surface, she took a deep, but short breath. She climbed the rest of the ladder and pounded on the window of the hatch, knowing that it could only be opened from the other side.

 ** _"When life flashes before us…"_**

"Help!" Lara screamed. Not yelled, but screamed. She was so scared. She kept looking back at the water rising in fear and the window in hope that someone would come. She felt the water go past her neck and she took one more breath before her whole body was completely engulfed in water.

 ** _"We find something;"_**

Even after air was deprived, she kept banging on the window and screaming; her screams coming out as bubbles.

 ** _"Out of time."_**

As her eyes closed and she drifted off in the darkness; her last thoughts were of Owen and how she'd never see him again.

 ** _"Something that keeps us going…"_**

She felt someone grab her forearm in my and pull her up. Once she was out, she coughed up some water while gasping for air. Whoever saved her patted her back to help get rid of the liquid in her lungs.

 ** _"Something that pushes us."_**

"Lara!" Whoever saved her called out, which she recognized was Owen.

Even though they were close to each other, the battle with the ship against the ocean's waves and the thunderstorm was loud enough to block out most of his yell. Owen looked up and saw Roth on the other part of the ship. The force of the Earth's most powerful disasters had completely torn the ship in two and Roth was on the other part. His eyes widened in horror as he quickly realized that their part of the ship was the one that was sinking.

"Come on Lara, we gotta move!" He pulled her up to stand. She looked at him, relieved for a minute.

"RUN!" As he yelled out, he grabbed her hand and made a dash for Roth, all the while never letting go of her hand.

They tripped and stumbled a few times, but never wavered from their sprint to the edge of the ripped ship. Waves crashing into the ship could be felt and heard.

As they neared the edge and readied themselves for a jump to the other side, Lara screamed out and Owen also decided to voice his thoughts at the time which pretty much summed it up.

"AHHHHHH!"

"SSSSHHHHIIIITTTT!"

They both timed the jump just right as they soared through the air. Owen tightened his grip on Lara's hand out of fear and comfort.

As they neared Roth and the ship, Lara reached out for Roth's hand and Owen reached for the edge.

"UGH." The edges ripped and distorted ends met just below his neck and into his chest. He gasped in pain and barely had enough time to tighten his grip so he wouldn't fall.

It didn't work. He could feel the rain pouring all over them and onto the edge that he held onto. The rain was making it hard to hold on as it didn't give him enough friction. He could feel himself sliding off and losing his grip.

He looked over and saw Lara holding onto Roth's hand, so he reluctantly released his grip on her. He needed his other hand to grab more surfaces and make sure he wasn't lost in the dark depth of the ocean. It proved futile as he could still feel himself slipping.

Owen glanced over at Lara as she looked at him with fear in her eyes. She knew just as much as he did that he was falling. The only reason she wasn't was because Roth had a good grip on her hand, but even he could tell she was slipping through his hands by the seconds.

"HELP!" Owen cried out.

By now he was hanging onto his fingertips and he looked up at Roth. Roth couldn't get him since he was using both hands to hold himself and Lara. He looked at him with worry as he struggled to hold Lara and a look as if to say "I'm sorry".

With the last of his strength to keep himself up as long as he could, Owen glanced at Lara. Her beautiful elegant British face that he had come to love was now filled with horror. She knew he was going to fall to his death, so she reached out to grab him.

"Grab on!" She wanted to save him. It was worth a shot.

Owen couldn't hold on much longer and he was losing his strength to hold on. He swung his legs back. He needed to time it right. He swung towards her and let go. He altered his body and lurched forward to increase his range and hopefully grab onto her.

He didn't.

As he passed and reached for her, all he could feel was her smooth fingertips brush against his as he fell to a watery grave. He could make out her tears even in the rain as she saw him descend in the ocean.

"LAARRRAAAAAAA!"

"OWWWEEEEEEEEN!"

'I just lost him. I lost my Owen.' Lara thought while crying. She could still picture his face as he descended into the ocean and it tore her heart in two. She couldn't believe what just happened. Unfortunately, she wasn't given the luxury of time to grieve as she felt something dreadful.

She was losing her grip on Roth.

She looked up at his face one last time before the harsh storms took her from his grip.

She fell.

She screamed.

Then all was silent as she plunged into the ocean.

As the storm continued to rage on...Lara was suddenly washed up on the beach.

She crawled along the sand, coughing up water.

Then she collapsed in the sand and coughed more.

She heard voices in the distance and saw Reyes and Jonah up on a cliff a good distance away from her.

She tried to call out to them, but the sound of the storm (plus the sound of Whitman complaining) drowned her out.

She got up and looked around, but something hit the back of her head, knocking her unconscious.

When she awoke...everything looked upside-down, for some reason...until she realized she was hanging upside-down, tied up in rope and hanging by her legs like a side of beef in a butcher store.

"Lara, thank God!" A familiar she never thought she'd hear again spoke next to her.

She soon turned to see Owen...except he had a bloody temple and he was in the same position Lara was in, but other than that, he was alive!

"Owen!" Lara exclaimed. "Thank God, I thought I'd lost you!"

"Me too," Owen replied. "I'd hug you, but I'm a little tied up at the moment."

"Where are we, anyway?" Lara asked.

"I dunno!" Owen said. "Some maniac dragged us up here! He said he wanted to help us!"

"Well, I'd hardly call this help!" Lara answered.

She tried to wriggle out of the sack she was tied in.

"Don't bother, I already tried," Owen said. "This is tighter than Whitman's ass."

"Brilliant..." Lara muttered before she looked over at a nearby lit torch. "...Oh, dear. Um...Owen? I have an idea...but it's going to hurt."

Owen looked at Lara, then at the torch, and then put on a dreadful look while murmuring "Oh, hell no..."

She started to swing back and forth until she bumped another tied up sack into the torch.

Soon, her body was lit on her fire, causing her to scream from the burning.

"Lara!" Owen cried, only to get burned when Lara swung back toward him. "AAAAAAAAH! SHIT, THAT HURTS!"

The fire burnt the sack and ropes quickly, causing them to fall to the rocky, bone covered floor several feet below them.

Both made different sounds when they landed; Owen grunted, but Lara screamed in pain!

And as Owen got up, he saw why: there was an iron rod impaling her side!

"Oh, god!" he cried as he ran to help Lara. "Lara...hold still, okay?"

She just nodded.

He yanked it out quickly.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Lara screamed before she collapsed on the ground, but Owen helped her stand up.

"Come on, let's go," said Owen. "That freak will be back any minute!"

She held her bleeding side as he helped her walk.

There were hundreds upon thousands of human bones scattered around the cave.

As they came to another part, there was a dead body tied to the wall, surrounded by candles.

"Oh, my god...!" Owen whispered in horror.

"Oh...no, no...!" Lara muttered. "What happened to you?"

Owen looked around and found a torch on the wall, which he picked up.

"Come on, Lara," he said as he began to lead her along. "Come on, hurry."

As they walked, Lara accidentally kicked a glass bottle, which smashed against the floor.

"Oh, that was loud," Lara whispered, and suddenly, she and Owen heard muttering.

"Crap," Owen cursed as he and Lara kept moving. "He's coming this way!"

Owen used the torch to light an old sail that was tied to a post and a mast hanging on the wall.

The fire spread to a wall covered with rocks, metal grates, and a barrel of gas.

"Get down!" Owen shouted as he and Lara ducked down and covered their ears as the explosion occurred.

They climbed up and ducked down to crawl under the nearly collapsing ceiling, when suddenly they were grabbed from behind!

"AAH!" Lara screamed as she turned to see a bearded man with a backpack and cargo pants.

"LET GO OF HER, YOU BASTARD!" Owen yelled as he tried to pull Lara away from him, but then Lara kicked the man in the face, causing him to let her go, and just in time, too, for a boulder collapsed, blocking his way.

"Wait!" he called. "Come back! Come on...just come back!"

"Screw you!" Owen yelled.

"That was close..." Lara gasped. "Oh shit, that was close..."

"Let's hurry and get outta here," said Owen. "He'll try and find a way to get to us again, I'm sure."

They moved down the tunnel, crouched, and had to move through some chin-deep water.

They both tried to keep their heads afloat, but now and then, they'd find themselves underwater for just a moment. Eventually, though, they did manage to make it out to the other side.

They walked under a small waterfall, which put out the torch, and found a way out.

But it was blocked by metal gratings put haphazardly together, along with a few barrels of gasoline.

"Well, this is a fine predicament," said Owen. "Now what do we do?"

Lara looked to the right, spotting some kind of slide for supplies, and a counter-weight for a lift.  
"Look!"

"What about it?" asked Owen as he looked at the mechanism.

"If we dump those supplies near the wall, and then set them on fire," Lara began, "We can get out!"

"Alright babe!" Owen exclaimed.

Lara smiled at Owen's praise. Even if the situation looked dire, at least she had him by his side and that made it a little better.

"I'm going to need your help with this, Owen," she said.

"Right," Owen followed her.

Lara went over to the lift, preparing to dump the supplies in the slide while Owen stood nearby with the torch.

"When I give the signal, light them!" called Lara.

"Roger!" Owen replied.

Soon, Lara began to dump the crates into the lift.

Owen lit the crates and pushed them down the slide.

Soon, he and Lara covered their ears as the explosion occurred. As they did, though, the water began to rise.

The cave also started to shake!

"I think that did a lot more harm than good!" Owen said.

"Let's get out of here, hurry!" Lara cried.

They waded through the water to the other side and ran out.

There were two sources of sunlight, indicating two exits, but the left one got blocked by piling rocks, so they ran to the right one.

As they did, the floor collapsed and they slid down the rocky floor, moving around to dodge tree branches.

"WHOA! WHOOOOOOAAA!" Owen cried before he dodged another branch. "LOOK OUT!"

They finally came to a stop on flatter ground, but it kept breaking apart, so they had to jump to the parts of floor that remained.

But then, as they were about to crawl under a boulder, the maniac came back and grabbed Lara again!

"AAH!" Lara screamed as she struggled to get free. "LET GO, YOU BASTARD!"

"I'm just trying to help you!" cried the man while Owen pulled on Lara's arm.

When Lara saw a chance, she kicked the man in the face, which made him let go.

He tried to crawl after them again, but a boulder fell from the ceiling and crushed his head.

"Hurry up! Let's get outta here!" Owen shouted.

They made it out of the narrow space and saw they had to jump to the next part, which was a steep hill, but it finally led to outside.

"We can make it!" Owen called as he pointed to the light up ahead. "We're almost there!"

They ran to the edge, jumped and made it to the hill, but it was wet, so it was slippery.

Owen dropped the torch, but paid it no mind as he clawed at the hill to climb up, with Lara right behind him.

They had to dodge boulders and branches, but they kept climbing.

They were a few feet away from the exit when the ceiling started falling down in front of it.

"OH COME ON!" Owen exclaimed.

Luckily, they managed to get out before the exit was blocked.

They both gasped for air when they got outside, and collapsed with exhaustion and relief.

"We made it...!" Owen said as he held Lara's hand, causing her to look at him. "We made it, Lara..."

"...We did," she said.

They hugged each other in relief.

"I thought you'd died," Lara sighed.

"I'm sorry," Owen said.

Lara winced at the wound in her side.

Owen helped her stand up and they looked around.

There was part of a wrecked plane on the cliff they were on. Looking over the ocean and the rocks surrounding the island, there was a graveyard of wrecked ships, some of them were galleons.

 ** _TOMB RAIDER_  
**

* * *

Had to put the game title at the end cause this when it's shown in the game!

I hope to update this daily. I already have the whole story finished, I just have to update the chapters.

Read and review, please!


	3. Chapter 2: Learning to Survive

You'll notice some parts are made shorter than others.

I don't own anything from Tomb Raider. Owen and Tommy belong to me and XFangHeartX.

No flames!

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Learning to Survive**

The graveyard of wrecked ships was not a comforting sight after getting out of that horrible cave.

"Oh, my god...!" Lara whispered.

"Lara, look!" Owen called from a tree to the far left, overlooking another part of the beach.

Lara ran over, still holding her side. Once she got over to Owen, she saw what he was pointing at,  
"A lifeboat! They must have gone inland."

"So they're alive," said Lara. "Good..."

Owen checked her, "Are you okay?"

"I think so," Lara said. "We need to find the others."

They walked further down the cliff and saw they had to cross of a fallen tree to get to the other side of a big gap.

"Well, good thing you took gymnastics, right, Lara?" asked Owen, jokingly.

Lara smiled, "Just, take it slow."

She carefully walked on first, followed by Owen. Lara almost fell once, but they made it to the other side.

"And...unclench," Owen commented.

Lara chuckled at that.

They moved on past more cliffs and had to climb across a wrecked WWII plane.

It almost fell, but they made it.

Next area, they found Sam's pack. The question was...where was Sam?

"Sam!" Lara called out.

"They must've come this way," Owen stated.

Lara picked up the bag and dumped all of it's contents out: Sam's video camera, a box of matches, and a walkie-talkie. She pocketed the camera and matches.

Then she remembered something, "Hey, do you still have your weapons?"

Owen's eyes widened for a brief second before he checked,  
"Yes, I do."

Owen always carried an army combat knife, and a black Colt M1911 with brown wooden grips. Lucky for him that he didn't lose them when he fell in the ocean, or that the crazy man in the cave hadn't taken them

Lara turned the radio on and all they heard was static,  
"Sam?! Roth?!" No response "Can anyone hear me?!" No response, so she strapped it to her back pocket "We've got to find them..."

"Hey, Lara!" Owen called as he pointed down a nearby path. "This way!"

She followed after him as it started raining and got darker.

They crawled under some rocks and found a good spot to rest. It was sheltered from the rain, and had a circle of rocks and burnt wood, like someone had used it before.

Lara cupped her hands out to get a handful of water from the rain and sipped it. Owen did the same.

She got the radio back out and switched it on,  
"Is anyone listening? Please respond." No response, just more static and the sound of no signal.

Owen noticed she was shivering.  
'Damn,' he thought. 'I can't let her keep going like this.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A few minutes later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They had gathered some wood and other stuff for a fire.

Lara opened the matchbox...only one match left. She lit it and started a fire.

Once it was going, Owen pulled Lara into his lap and wrapped his arms around her,  
"Damn Lara, you're freezing!"

"I know," Lara said with a shiver.

A small, indistinguishable sound came from the radio before it faded into more static.

Lara got it out and placed it in front of them, and left it on.

She then got out the camera and played some of the recordings.

It was from when they were on the ship, together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _Camera recording_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _Lara was sitting at her desk, with books and papers laid in front of her. She was reading them over carefully._

 _"Here's the soon-to-be-famous archeologist, Lara Croft, in her native habitat," Sam, who was holding the camera, said in a narrative tone. She turned the camera to a mirror to show herself. "She's on the hunt for the lost kingdom of Yamatai, home to the fabulous Himiko, mythical Sun Queen, and ancestor of yours truly."_

 _"Sam...this is serious," Lara cut in._

 _"Oh sweetie, I know," Sam replied, turning the camera back to her friend._

 _"She's just trying to lighten the mood," Owen said, coming up behind Lara and started rubbing her shoulders to ease her stress. "Everyone's so on edge. What are you worried about?"_

 _Lara pleasantly sighed and moaned at Owen's treatment, then leaned back in her chair,_  
 _"I'm close to something, I'm sure of it! I just don't know if the others will listen, or even if they should."_

 _"Baby, you know this stuff better than anyone," Owen reassured her. "Seriously, I'm not just saying that to make you feel better."_

 _"Owen's right Lara," Sam agreed. "I trust you, Roth trusts you and Owen trusts you! You got this."_

 _Owen kissed the top of her head, "Now, let's take a break, okay?"_

 _"Okay, okay!" Lara said in mock-defeat. "And Sam, baby...thanks."_

 _Sam moved the camera away as Owen leaned down to kiss Lara and had the camera face her,_  
 _"She's not always this serious, you know?" She left Lara's room, but you could fairly see Owen and her kissing in the background._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _Next recording_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _Jonah was cooking something while Roth and Grim cheered for opposite football teams as they listened to a game on the radio._

 _The camera panned over to Lara arguing with Dr. Whitman, with Owen standing beside her. He knew she could handle herself, but he just liked to stand by her side for silent support._

 _"How can you suggest I'm not serious about this expedition, Lara?" Whitman angrily asked. "It's not just Sam's family funding us, I've put my savings on the line too."_

 _"We've all got some kind of stake in this," Reyes, who was sitting at the table, said. "The funding won't last forever Whitman."_

 _"That's precisely why we should push east, not west," Lara emphasized her point._

 _Grim laughed and cheered over his team scoring a goal._

 _"No one believes Yamatai is that far east," Whitman argued. "The books simply don't support it!"_

 _"Well, whoever wrote those books never found Yamatai," Sam countered._

 _"Give the girl a prize!" Tommy, who was holding the camera, applauded her point._

 _"Cut it out, Tommy," Lara said._

 _"Ah, come on, Lara, have a bit of fun!" Owen said._

 _"Yeah, not everybody gets to be on TV," Tommy said, which caused Lara to chuckle._

 _"Ha! You're smiling!" Sam laughed._

 _Of course, Whitman had to ruin the fun, "Can we focus?!"_

 _"Owen and I have talked to Roth about this," Lara said. "There's no point in following in other people's footsteps, Dr. Whitman."_

 _"I refuse to bet MY reputation on YOUR hunch!" Whitman barked. "I'm the lead archeologist here."_

 _"An' when were you last in the field without a TV crew behind you?" Grim interjected, making Owen and Tommy laugh._

 _"I've got 30 years' experience, 2 PhDs, one in East Asian History," Whitman said. "So why don't you just stick to boats, Mr. Grim?"_

 _"Ship, Dr. Whitman," Grim corrected. "It's a ship. Don't need a PhD to know that."_

 _"Look, going east will take us directly into the Dragon's Triangle," Lara continued. "That's where we need to go."_

 _"Lara, my Little Bird," Jonah cut in. "I'd follow you almost anywhere, but that place has a bad energy."_

 _"Bad storms more like it," Alex said. "Makes the Bermuda Triangle look like Disney World, *chuckle* sign me up."_

 _"The stories about Queen Himiko say she could summon storms," Owen said. "Myths are usually based on some version of the truth. What if Yamatai was somewhere in the Triangle itself?"_

 _"Look, this is the satellite imagery from inside the Dragon's Triangle," Alex cut in, turning his laptop around for everyone to see._

 _"That doesn't look good," Sam said._

 _"No it doesn't," Tommy agreed._

 _"If it's wet, I can sail on it," Grim assured._

 _"Oh don't tell me you're seriously cons-" Whitman complained._

 _"ENOUGH!" Roth shut him up. "Reyes is right, we don't have the funds to piss about. It's now or never. Lara and Owen are offering fresh ideas and a plan. I'm the captain here, it's my decision. We're going into the Dragon's Triangle."_

 _Whitman picked his bowl of stew and walked away, "Why am I even here?"_

 _"Good question," Tommy said. He and Owen both laughed at that and high-fived._

 _Roth asked Lara to explain her plan as he pointed to the map._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _End recordings_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lara turned off the camera to conserve the battery and set it down.  
"Thanks for having my back, Owen."

"Always," he replied, placing butterfly kisses on her neck.

Lara responded by kissing his lips.

Their kiss became more passionate as they began caressing each other.

But then Lara pulled away.  
"Sorry," she said. "It's just..."

"I-I know, I know," Owen said. "We gotta find the others."

"...Later on, maybe?" Lara asked.

"Okay, but...could I...?" Owen asked.

Lara rolled her eyes and sighed,  
"If you must," she said with fake-reluctance.

Owen placed his right hand on her butt, and his left hand on her left breast, and caressed them both.

Lara moaned a bit at that.

They hadn't had their first time yet, but they'd done a few things close to third base.

They kissed one more time before they separated.

"When we make it off this island, can we...?" Owen asked.

Lara smiled, "Yes...if we make it-"

" **When** , not if," Owen corrected her. "We will make it home, Lara."

"...Right," said Lara. " **When** we make it."

"There we go," Owen nodded.

Once morning came, the storm had passed.

Lara and Owen both stood up and left of the campsite, going into the forest.

"We should find something to eat," Lara stated.

"Good plan," Owen agreed. He loved animals, but he wasn't a vegetarian.

They found a small stream and waterfall, and a body hanging from a tree, upside-down. The body was old and decayed, like it'd been there for years.

"Ugh, gross," Owen grimaced.

Lara spotted a makeshift bow on the dead body, "Wait, I can use that bow!"

She climbed up and old shack that was next to the tree, jumped to small cliff and walked onto the tree that the body was hanging from.

She took a deep breath before she reached out to grab the bow. She waited till the body swung closer to her and grabbed it, but she'd leaned out to far, so she fell.

Luckily, Owen caught her.

"Thanks," Lara said as Owen put her down.

The body fell from the tree, along with the bow, so Lara grabbed it and tested it.

The control was good, and the string didn't snap, neither did the wood.

Owen grabbed a quiver that was up against another tree. It even had arrows in it.

Lara strapped it around her shoulder,  
"Alright, let's see if this thing still works."

She ran down the stream, with Owen right behind her. They climbed up a small hill, where Owen spotted a deer.

They hid behind some plants, Lara drew back the bow, aimed and fired.

The arrow hit the deer and it collapsed on the ground.

They ran over as the poor creature gasped it's last breath.

"Sorry..." Lara said with regret, then she knelt down, took an arrow from her quiver and sliced off some of the deer's flesh.

Owen found some fruit that wasn't poisonous, then they headed back to the camp.

Soon, they started up a fire and began to enjoy some nice venison.

* * *

Sorry if it seems short.

Read and review, please!


	4. Chapter 3: Exploration and Wolves

I've always hated how in some movies, games, TV shows, ect.; wolves are always treated like bad guys.

I'm definitely changing that!

I own nothing from Tomb Raider. Owen, Tommy and the wolf belong to me and XFangHeartX.

No flames!

* * *

 **Chapter 3: Exploration and Wolves**

Once they'd finished eating, Lara and Owen just sat by the fire. Then, suddenly...

" **This is Conrad Roth, captain of the Endurance** ," Roth's voice came from the radio.

Lara and Owen's faces lit up as she grabbed the radio. " **We are shipwrecked on an island inside the Dragon's Triangle** ," Roth spoke out.

"Roth!" Lara called.

" **Lara!**" Roth exclaimed.

"You're alive!" Lara was so relieved.

" **Easy, easy** ," Roth responded. " **Are you okay? What happened?** "

"I remember the beach...," Lara said. "Then it went black and I woke up in a cave. Owen was there, still alive, but there was a crazy ma, Roth, and a dead body."

" **Oh God...** " Roth sighed. " **Is Owen still with you?** "

"Right here, old man," Owen said.

" **I was about to drag you back from hell and kick your ass myself for dying** ," Roth exclaimed. Owen laughed at that. " **Where are you two now? Are you safe?** "

"It was so horrible," Lara cried. "It's all my fault, this is all my fault-"

"Hey, don't go blaming yourself again," Owen told her.

" **Listen, I sent an SOS from the Endurance before I abandoned her** ," Roth said. " **Hopefully someone caught it. I've spoken to the others; we're regrouping at my location.** "

"Please come and get us..." Lara cried.

" **I have to stay here** ," Roth said. " **You can do this Lara. Remember when we climbed Snowden? You said the key was knowing that all you've got to do is just-** "

"Keep moving," Lara said along with him.

" **Remember everything I've taught you, Lara** ," Roth told her. " **Keep each other safe. You're ready for this. And keep your radio on.** "

Lara stood up, "Okay."

"Let's get going, Lara," Owen said.

She nodded, then they headed back to where they found the bow.

On the way, they heard what sounded like music. Once they arrived, they saw the door to the shack was open, and the inside was lit by a torch.

"...We're not alone," Owen whispered.

They ran over to the shack.

"Hello...hello?" Lara called. "Is someone there?"

They walked inside the shack and heard the music coming from a hole in the floor, which led to a dark tunnel, with a ladder to climb down.

"This could be a way forward," Owen suggested, then a gust of wind slammed the shack door shut. "Dammit."

Lara grabbed the torch and climbed down the ladder first, followed by Owen. When they made it to the bottom, the tunnel was like a cramped mining tunnel, with several markings on the wall. One looked like the sun.

"What are these markings?" Lara asked.

"No clue," Owen answered.

They moved down the tunnel, through some water.

"Look," Owen pointed to one wall that was covered in tally marks, along with a drawing of the sun. "Think this was someone counting how many days they've been on the island?"

Lara counted the marks, "Oh God, whoever made this had been here for sixty three days."

They came to a room that was put together from piles of junk. There was makeshift bed covered with blood.

"Fuck, this is insane," Owen said.

Lara used the torch to burn a piece of old cloth, along with some barrels. The items burned away to reveal a closed off room, it's walls were covered with blood. Bones of animals and humans were all over the floor, with skulls on shelves. Slabs of bleeding meat hung from dozens of hooks. Basically, the room looked like a slaughter house.

Owen and Lara both covered their noses,  
"Hope none of these slabs are human," He said

There was a bent stick with a thick, sharp blade tied to the top of it, almost like a makeshift pick-axe.

"Ugh...I think I found their skinning tool," said Owen.

Lara, with disgust, pulled it from the slab of meat it was attached to.

They went back to the main room, where Lara used her newly acquired axe to pry open an iron door.

"No one leaves," Owen stated, grimly.

"What?" Lara inquired, having just pried the door open.

"This message above the bed," Owen pointed out. The message did indeed say 'NO ONE LEAVES'.

"Someone's just trying to scare us," Lara said. "Come on."

They went through the door, down another cramped tunnel with water, and came to a dead-end. Luckily, there was a ladder to climb up.

They climbed up, coming inside another shack, which they left.

Then they heard a familiar female voice, "Hold on, let me find out."

"Sam?" Lara guessed.

Then they heard an unknown male voice, "We're on the southwest side. They'll need to follow the path...it's a bit of a climb."

"Did you get that?" Sam's voice asked.

" **Got it** ," Reyes's voice said via radio.

"We have a fire," Sam said. "Look for the smoke."

" **We're on our way** ," Reyes responded.

"Sam?" Lara called out.

"Lara?" Sam asked as she got up from where she was sitting and looked around the corner where they were hiding, only to gasp happily. "Lara! Owen!"

Soon, Lara and Sam went to hug each other.

"Glad to see you're safe," Owen said.

The three of them went over to Sam's fire, where an unknown man was sitting.

Owen reached for his gun, but Sam stopped him, "It's okay, he's one of us."

The man stood up, and used an long stick to support himself, "Sorry if I startled you. This place would make anyone a little jumpy. We just spoke to your crew, they're on their way."

Sam limped back over to her seat, "He bandaged my foot."

"It was the least I could do," the man said. "I'm sorry, my manners; I'm Mathias." He held out his hand, but neither Lara or Owen shook it. "A teacher by trade. Not really cut out for island life I'm afraid."

"You two lovebirds look exhausted," Sam said. "Sit down."

"Yeah..." Lara sighed as she sat down. Owen collapsed on his back on the ground.

"How's your leg?" Owen asked.

"It's a little better," she said.

"Thank god," he whispered.

Mathias sat down, "Sam was just telling me about the Sun Queen."

"Right, Himiko," Sam acknowledged.

"Can you tell me more?" Mathias asked. "I'm intrigued."

"Well, believe it or not," Sam began. "A couple thousand years ago, Queen Himiko pretty much ran things in Japan."

Lara sighed, "She loves telling this story..."

"Himiko was beautiful, enigmatic, but also ruthless, and powerful," Sam said. "Legend says she had shamanistic powers."

"And this is where she loses me," Lara groaned.

"Well, there's always some truth to myths," Mathias said.

"She commanded an army of Samurai warriors, her magnificent Stormguard," Sam continued. "They rode the very winds into battle, laying waste to all who opposed them. They say the sun rose at Himiko's command and she ruled everything its rays touched, from the mountain to the seas beyond."

Sam's voice started to fade away to Lara as she kept nodding off. She must have been more tired than she thought as she fell asleep. Owen had already fallen asleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were startled awake by a lightning and thunder strike. Who knows how much time had passed. Even worse, Sam and Mathias were nowhere to be seen!

"Where'd Sam and the other guy go?" asked Owen.

"Sam? Mathias?" Lara called as they stood up. "Sam! Sam!"

They ran around a corner to another dense forest to see if they could spot Sam, but they couldn't.

"Shit!" Lara exclaimed.

They trekked down the hill which led into the forest, but when they got to the bottom, Lara's leg was caught in a bear trap!

"AGH!" Lara screamed in pain as she tried to pull it off. "OWEN!"

Owen went over and kicked the trigger mechanism to make is loosen and let go of Lara's leg.

He knelt down to check her, "Oh Jesus!"

As he helped her stand, they heard wolves howling in the distance.

Gasping, Lara drew her bow, but Owen signaled her to lower it.

"Hang on a second," he said.

"What?!" Lara asked. "Are you insane?!"

"Just. Stay. Calm," Owen said.

A dark gray wolf emerged slowly from the bushes and approached them, growling.

Owen held up his hands in surrender, "Easy..."

He looked the wolf straight in the eye and gave it a look that said, "I will not hurt you, but I'm the alpha here".

Lara looked at Owen, then back at the wolf...who lowered his head and slowly approached them, giving off a small whine with his tail tucked between his legs.

Owen slowly approached it, with Lara behind him, and crouched down to it.

"That's it," Owen said and held out his hand.

The wolf sniffed his hand, not sensing any amount of fear from him, and licked his hand.

"There you go," said Owen as he petted the wolf. "Good boy."

"...That's...amazing...!" Lara said. "How did you do that?"

"My Uncle Davis works at the San Francisco Zoo," Owen explained. "Knowing I loved animals, he taught me how to get along with predators. One of the key things is to show no fear, cause they can smell it. And don't show any aggression, they'll retaliate."

"Over here!" They heard Reyes's voice a few feet away.

The wolf looked in her direction, but Owen assured it, "It's okay, they're our friends. We won't harm you, or your pack."

The wolf rubbed him, turned around, barked and ran off.

"See ya later, pal!" Owen called after it.

Reyes came over, a Beretta 92FS in her hands. Jonah, Alex, Tommy, Grim and Dr. Whitman weren't far behind.

"Was that a wolf I just saw?" Reyes questioned.

"Yes, but don't worry," Owen said as helped Lara to her feet. "He and his pack won't hurt us, as we long as we don't hurt them."

"You still got it, man!" Tommy exclaimed, clasping hands with Owen.

"Thanks, buddy," said Owen.

"I'm so glad you're all here," Lara said. "Is Sam with you?"

"She was with you," Jonah said, confused.

"She was, along with that man, Mathias," Owen said. "I've got a bad feeling about him."

"We both fell asleep, and when we woke up they were both gone," Lara said.

"You girls shouldn't go wandering off!" Grim said.

"We need to find them," Lara said.

"Uh, w-wait, what about Roth?" Whitman asked.

"Okay, let's split-up," Reyes ordered. "One of us go with Lara and Owen, and meet up with Roth. The rest of us should fan out and look for Sam."

"I'll go with them," Alex volunteered.

"No, no...let me," Whitman offered.

Reyes looked at him incredulously, then handed him a Beretta, "You know how to use one of these?"

Whitman fumbled with it a bit, "It's...it's been a while. It-It's all coming back to me."

"Get to Roth," Tommy told them. "We'll find Sam and this Mathias guy."

Reyes. Jonah, Tommy, Alex and Grim took off as Lara used her bow to limp along.

"You going to be okay?" Whitman asked.

"Yes, I-I just need to rest for a few minutes," Lara said, before Owen helped her over to sit at the camp they were previously at.

"Here, give her this," said Tommy as he handed Owen his jacket. "Don't worry, it's dry."

"Thanks," Owen said as he covered Lara with it, causing her to smile.

"You sit, uh..." Whitman stammered. "You sit here. I'll uh...*clears throat* I'll check up ahead."

"Okay," Lara said.

Whitman cocked his gun and walked away.

"He seems flustered about something," Owen stated.

Lara just shrugged., then she noticed a book near the fire. She checked it,

"Sam's journal."

She opened it up to read it.

 _"I can't believe we're actually on an expedition to find the homeland of my ancestors. Ever since I told Lara the story of Himiko years ago, she's been hunting for it's location. I never really gave it much thought, that any of this could actually be real history._

 _My grandmother used to tell me the story like it was a memory..._

 _Many thousands of years ago, Queen Himiko ruled the land of Yamatai. The sun rose at Himiko's command and she ruled everything its rays touched, from the mountain to the seas beyond. But one day, Yamatai simply disappeared without a trace, forgotten in time."_

"That's right," Owen said. "Sam was so excited about this trip."

"It sounds like this Himiko was like some sort of deity than a queen," Lara said. "At least in the people's eyes."

"Don't know if we'll ever find out," Owen said.

"Is there any more?" he added.

"No," Lara responded.

"How's your leg?" Owen asked.

"It's a little better," she said.

"Then we should catch up to Whitman," Owen stood up and helped Lara to her feet.

They followed where Whitman had gone, then heard his voice call, "Lara, Owen! Up here! I found something!"

"I don't like the sound of that," Lara said.

"Just...Just head up the hill!" Whitman called. "Look for the large gate!"

"Large gate?" Owen repeated as he looked around for it.

"Just go, you'll see it!" Whitman called.

They ran up a hilly path, to where they heard Whitman's voice. Along the way, they saw some wolves, but they didn't bother them.

They eventually made it to the large gate, and saw pictures painted on the door. Many drawings of the sun, hand prints, and what looked like a Japanese statue.

Whitman was looking at them with intrigue, "These are fascinating."

Lara looked closer, "We've seen these before. They must be ritualistic."

"This female image is particularly interesting," Whitman said with excitement.

Owen touched the paint, only to discover it was still wet,  
"This must have been made recently."

"By those islanders, no doubt," Whitman said. "Judging by the wrecks out there, they were once like us...survivors... Remarkable!'

"Yes," Lara rolled her eyes. "Well, let's hope we don't become murderers too."

"That's the last thing we need," said Owen. "Come on, let's keep moving. I'm getting a bad feeling."

Whitman stood by one of two spinning cranks to open the gate,  
"See if you can work the other one."

Owen went over to the other one, but it's handle was missing. So he got out his combat knife, still in its holster. He placed the handle in the empty hole and gripped the leather cover blade. Together, he and Whitman spun the cranks and the gate rose up.

Once it was fully open, the gate began to slowly descend, so the three survivors hurried through.

They used a nearby lantern to light their unlit torches and walked toward some stone steps.

"That female figure on the gate," Whitman said. "Given the age of the symbols, it could be the Sun Queen..."

"Are you sure you're not channeling Sam, Dr. Whitman?" Lara chuckled.

"Well, there's no doubt, Himiko had power," Whitman said as they went up the steps. "Some say shamanistic. Elemental!"

"A woman wields that much power and sooner or later it gets called witchcraft," Owen said, then looked at Lara. "No offence."

"None taken," Lara chuckled.

Owen chuckled back as they kept climbing up the steps.

"We shouldn't discount anything, even what may seem to us, irrational," Whitman said. "We still have much to learn about the world."

"You sound like my father..." Lara sighed.

"It could be one hell of a story, Lara," Whitman said.

"Not if we don't live to tell it," Lara sighed.

"Let's not talk like that," Owen said.

They finished climbing the steps and came to another forested area. Then they found a Japanese statue with a bowl of water and several lit candles in front of it.

"Incredible," Whitman exclaimed. "It IS Himiko!"

"But look, the bowl, the candles," Lara inquired. "Why is she still being worshipped?"

"This island must've once been part of Yamatai!" Whitman exclaimed. "You were right, Lara!"

"The lost kingdom!" Owen said.

"It's like finding Atlantis!" Whitman said happily.

"But this is real, Dr. Whitman," Lara said. "We're not standing on a myth."

Whitman laughed. "We're standing on a goldmine!"

That's when they heard some rustling, startling them.

Owen and Whitman drew their guns.

"Come quickly, your friends are hurt," A Russian man showed himself, holding up his hands.

"Yes, probably by them," Lara said.

"Stay back!" Owen yelled.

"They can't be trusted," Lara added.

There was another man in a tree, aiming an arrow at them, and another on a nearby cliff-side doing the same.

"You have guns," Lara reminded them. Whitman's hands were shaking, Owen's weren't. He'd killed people before, but only in self-defense.

"I don't want any trouble," Whitman tried to negotiate. "We'll come, but I insist that afterwards, you take us to whoever's in charge!" He dropped his gun.

"Noo!" Lara yelled.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" Owen yelled.

"Be quiet!" Whitman said. "I'm handling this."

"You idiot! What makes you think we should trust them?!" asked Owen.

"I said I'm handling this!" Whitman shouted.

Lara drew her bow, but was tackled from behind.

Owen turned his gun on the guy who was on top of her, "Get off of her!" Someone came up behind him, and hit the back of his head with the butt of his gun, knocking him out.

"OWEN!" Lara screamed as she struggled against the man who tackled her. "Get off!"

The man tied her hands behind her back with some rope.

"Just-Just along with them, Lara!" Whitman pleaded. "Do...do whatever they say!"

The man pulled Lara to her feet, grabbed her bow, slung it over his shoulder and pulled her to walk.

The man said something in Russian to one of his men, so they picked up Owen and dragged him along.

* * *

Two chapters in one day! I'm on a roll!

Read and review please!


	5. Chapter 4: Forced to Kill to Survive

Not gonna lie; Fang and I hated ourselves when writing this next part.

Anyone who's played or watched the game knows that Vladimir tries to rape Lara. Well...this time, it's gonna happen...

I thought it would add to the trauma...

I don't own Tomb Raider. Owen belongs to me and XFangHeartX.

No flames or hate for the rape scene! I already feel bad enough!

* * *

 **Chapter 4: Forced to Kill to Survive**

Soon, the group arrived and found three groups of survivors, being held at gunpoint.

"Who are you people?" asked Lara. "What do you want with us?"

"Silence!" The man who dragged her, Vladimir, yelled.

"Lara!" One of the survivors stood up, but was knocked down by one of Vladimir's men.

"If they give you any trouble, kill them!" Vladimir ordered.

"No..." Lara begged. "Don't hurt them, please!"

Vladimir pushed her against a tree, "I said, silence, girl!"

That's when he began to rub her cheek and speak to her in Russian...and whatever he said, it sounded like something of perverse intentions.

She tried to run, but he pulled her back.

"Let go of her!" One of the survivors yelled. "Let go of her!" He got up and ran. "Lara, run!"

Vladimir turned around and shot the fleeing man in the head.

"Oh no!" Lara screamed. "No!"

The other two survivors ran in two different directions.

"Round them up!" Vladimir ordered, then backhanded Lara in the face with is gun, making her fall to the ground. "Don't you fucking move!" He walked away from her. "Kill them all!"

Soon, Lara fled to a burning village, but she found several of the Russian men already looking for her.

"Hey! The girl is missing! Find her!" shouted one of them.

Lara gasped while she hid behind a wall, and after making sure that the coast was clear, she ran and hid behind another, and finally, she found an old rundown shack.

As she hid...Vladimir walked by, shouting something in Russian.

She had been breathing heavily, but held it as he walked by.

When she thought he was gone, she breathed heavily again. But hearing him come back made her gasp as she held her breath again.

"No one escapes!" Vladimir said, and he spotted her hiding.

'Dammit, I shouldn't have gasped!' Lara thought, angry at herself.

Vladimir pointed his gun at her, "Out!" He said something else in Russian.

Lara slowly got out of the shack. Once she was, Vladimir pinned her against the old wood.  
"I always find them."

His right hand caressed her right side, the she kneed him in the stomach and ran, but he grabbed her am and pulled her back.

Having her pinned again, he placed his head against the left side of hers; his nose against her left temple,  
"Let's get one thing clear; I will do it THIS way, or I can kill you, and then do it! OR, I can kill your boyfriend..."

Lara grunted as she struggled to get away.

"Don't expect your little boyfriend to help you, this time," Vladimir said...before he pulled Lara into the shack and threw her against the floor.

"No...no, please...!" Lara whimpered. "Please, no!"

"This can either be quick and painless, slow and painful, or I can kill you and do it anyway," Vladimir threatened her. He lifted her to her feet and turned her around so her back was facing him. "Don't try anything, or I'll have your boyfriend killed."

Lara sobbed as tears fell from her eyes. She knew what was gonna happen, and if she resisted, either she or Owen would die. Even worse, she was still a virgin, as she and Owen hadn't done it yet.

Vladimir untied her hands, which momentarily confused her, then he pushed her away, making her face him.

He still had his gun aimed at her, "Now, strip."

Lara bit her lip...and shuddered as she began to take off her light blue top...with some reluctance.

"Hurry up!" Vladimir demanded.

With shaking hands, Lara slowly began to lift up her top, revealing her black sports bra. Then, she began to take off her pants, revealing her black panties, and she even removed her boots.

"There," she said. "M-my clothes are off..."

"...Everything," Vladimir said with a sick grin.

Lara shook her head, "No, please..."

Vladimir cocked the hammer of his gun, "Now!"

"...O-okay...okay..." Lara whimpered, then unhooked her bra and took off her panties.

She was about to cover herself, but,  
"Don't even think about it."

Lara tried her hardest not to cry...but ultimately put her arms down, revealing her completely bare body.

"Mmm..." Vladimir hummed as he approached Lara and walked around her, looking her over. "Yes...yes, that's nice...you remind me of my younger sister...too bad she shot herself in the head after I did it."

"...You're sick," Lara hissed, only for Vladimir to smack her across the face.

"Quiet!" he shouted. "Don't talk, understand?"

He tied her hands behind her back again, then pushed her to the ground.

He started by fondling her breasts and pinching her nipples.

Lara bit her lip and moaned a little, while Vladimir began to lick her cheek, leaving a trail of saliva. She could smell alcohol on his breath, and that made her want to throw up.

"Was that a moan?" Vladimir asked, grinning.

"No!" Lara yelled, defiantly.

He pushed her onto her back,  
"I'll make you moan even more."

He unzipped his pants and pulled out his manhood, which was already big and hard.

"Oh God, no...no!" Lara sobbed, pleading.

But it was already, too late. Before Lara could do anything...Vladimir grabbed her...and entered her. Lara tried to scream, but Vladimir covered her mouth before she could. It did muffle her screams, though.

"Shh~!" Vladimir shushed...as he began to move in and out of her, causing her to let out a cry with each one.

'Dear god, get me out of this nightmare!' Lara thought as tears fell from her eyes. 'Owen, where are you?! Please help me...!'

However, while Vladimir was busy...he hadn't realized he had dropped his gun.

"Oh, you were a virgin? That makes this even better!" Vladimir exclaimed as he continued thrusting. "Cry and scream more!"

He released her mouth so he could hear her cries and screams of pain. And for some sick reason, it turned him on even more and his manhood got harder.

He thrusted faster, making her sob more.

"PLEASE, STOHOHOP!" Lara begged. "NO MORE!"

He groped her bouncing breasts as he moved faster and harder, like a jackhammer.

"AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! AH! STOHOP!" Lara screamed.

Vladimir leaned over her as he kept thrusting,  
"Ah, you little whore! You will bear my son! I'm going to knock you up! GET PREGNANT!"

"NOOOOOO!" Lara practically screamed herself hoarse. "PLEASE, NOOO! ANYTHING BUT THAT! DON'T CUM INSIDE ME! I DON'T WANNA GET PREGNANT! PLEASE!"

"No excuses!" Vladimir yelled thrusting even harder, and going deeper inside her. Lara cried even harder, knowing with horror that this sick man was going to impregnate her.

Just when he was beginning to reach his climax...someone grabbed him by the back of his jacket and forcefully pulled him off of Lara. Vladimir grunted as he looked up...only to see Owen, pointing his gun at him...with a glare so fierce that it looked like that alone could kill him.

Without even saying a word, Owen shot the sick Russian's balls off!

"AAAAAAAAAAGH!" Vladimir screamed as he grabbed at his bloody privates, but then Owen shot again, this time causing the appendage to come straight off. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUUGH! YOU SON OF A BITCH!"

Then, Owen jumped on Vladimir and began to mercilessly punch him across the face with both fists, over and over.

Once he was done, his knuckles were bleeding and Vladimir's face was a smashed, gory mess.

Owen breathed heavily in anger, till he heard sobbing,  
"Oh my God, LARA!"

He ran over to her.

"Owen...he...he...!" Lara whispered, only to break down crying.

"Shh~!" Owen shushed...although his voice began to break. "I...I'm sorry, Lara...I'm so sorry...!"

He untied her hands, then she hugged tightly, and he hugged her back.

"I...I...I wanted it to be you...!" Lara cried. "My first time...I wanted it to be you...and what do I get, instead?!" She then broke down crying even more.

"I know...I am so, so sorry..." Owen tried to soothe her, silently shedding his own tears.

He then reached over and grabbed Lara's clothes.

"Here," he said. "Put these back on."

Lara nodded before she began to put her clothes back on.

"At least you stopped him before he could..." Lara tried to say.

"...Yeah," Owen said. "...You okay?"

"...I'm sore," Lara admitted.

"Then let's rest for a minute," Owen said.

Lara nodded her head as she leaned against Owen.

He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her forehead,  
"I still love you, no matter what."

"...I love you, too...!" Lara whispered.

"And I'm gonna help you through this," he added.

"You promise?" Lara asked.

"I promise," Owen replied.

They kissed deeply, then Lara spotted Vladimir's dropped gun.

She grabbed it and emptied it's last few shots into Vladimir's corpse.

Even after the gun clicked, she kept pulling the trigger.

Owen put his hand on her shoulder, causing her to stop...and then she sighed in relief.

"...Thank you, Owen," she said.

He nodded, "You'd better hang on to that."

Lara nodded, then picked up her bow and quiver and strapped them back on.

They ran past some more burning buildings, hearing Vladimir's men searching for and killing more people.

When they found another dead body, with a spare gun magazine on the ground next to him, Lara went to pick it up.

But the her arm got grazed by a fire arrow, making her and Owen duck behind some crates.

"Shit!" Owen cursed.

"Got two more!" One of the men yelled. "They went down over there! A man and a woman!"

Lara clutched her right shoulder, which now had a bleeding cut, then grabbed the mag on the ground and loaded her gun.

"Are they dead?" Another man asked.

"I don't know!" The first man responded. "We know you're here, there's nowhere to run!"

"There's two of them," Owen whispered to her. "I'll get the one on the left, you get the one on the right."

Lara nodded her head before they both went to take them out.

They both took deep breaths and stood up, pointing their guns at the two men.

"Oh shit! Guns!" One of the men yelled as they attempted to jump to the side.

Lara and Owen both fired and hit their targets; Owen got his guy in the head, Lara got hers in the shoulder and head.

She should have felt proud of it, but the adrenaline disappeared and the reality that she'd just killed someone dawned on her. Adding that to the negative emotions running through her heart, mind and soul over being raped a few minutes ago became too much.

She collapsed to her knees and puked.

Owen was quickly at her side.

She coughed and sobbed over all the recent events, "Oh God!

"...I'm sorry, Lara," Owen whispered.

Lara took a couple deep breaths, then stood up. She and Owen looted the dead bodies for bullets, arrows, and anything else they could use.

They then headed up to a big building that looked like a temple, and pried open the door.

"There they are!" A male voice yelled behind them. "Kill them!"

They ran inside and locked the door, but the people outside shot fire arrows at the building, lighting it.

"Burn them out!" Another voice yelled.

"You're gonna die in there!" One more voice yelled.

"Come on, Lara, let's go," Owen said. "We gotta get outta here!"

Lara coughed, but spotted a rectangular hole to crawl out of through the wall behind them, but it was boarded up with wood.

She kicked the wood out and they crawled out of the building.

They hurried to find cover, but they were quickly spotted by three of the men.

"There! Get them!" shouted one as they tried to open fire, only for Lara to shoot one in the head and Owen to shoot the other two.

"Not bad!" Owen said.

They hurried past more buildings, being more careful to stay out of sight.

And to keep things quiet, Lara used her bow and arrows to kill any other men they saw.

They found a rope ladder to climb up, so they did.

" **Lara, Owen, are you there?** " Roth's voice asked, via the radio hanging from Lara's back pocket.

"Yes!" Lara sighed in relief at hearing his voice.

" **I can see smoke coming from the old ruins, are you okay?** " Roth asked.

"Oh God...Roth, we're in trouble," Lara said. "They're killing people."

" **What? Who?** " Roth asked.

"Men...I don't know why..." Lara said. "We had to kill some of them. We had no choice..."

" **Oh God...that can't have been easy...** " Roth said.

They made it to the top of the ladder,  
"It's scary just how easy it was," Lara responded.

"You've gotta warn the others, Roth," Owen told him.

 **"Don't worry about them right now** ," Roth said. " **You just do whatever it takes to get to me, both of you.** "

"We'll try," Lara said.

"Hey, Roth," Owen remembered something. "If you see any wolves, don't get defensive. They won't try to hurt you."

" **Oh, trust me** ," said Roth. " **I know better than that.** "

"Where are you, Roth?" asked Lara as she looked around.

" **Just keep moving** ," Roth said. " **You'll find me.** "

They moved through more of the village, but these buildings weren't on fire. Then they heard voices up ahead.

"I just got word from the west beach," one of them said. "Looks like a smaller group escaped into the lower forest."

"Maybe we should get a hunting party down there," the other man said.

"No, Father Mathias went himself," the first man responded. "Told us to stay out."

Lara took out two arrows, aimed her bow sideways, and fired. She actually managed to hit both men at the same time.

"...Where'd you learn how to do that?" Owen asked.

"Roth taught me a lot of things," Lara smiled with pride. "Archery was where I really shined."

"Damn...maybe you could give me pointers," said Owen, only to narrowly avoid getting shot. "OH, SHIT!"

More men headed down some steps, but they shot them.

They headed up the steps then climbed up a wall and went through a hole in the wall that led inside a room that was practically caved in by collapsed wood.

"What in the hell is this?" Owen asked.

"Who knows?" Lara asked before she heard some more men coming. "Come on, let's hurry."

* * *

I know, short.

Read and review!


	6. Chapter 5: Wolf Cave

Since the story is done, I'll try to upload as many chapters as I can every day.

And that wolf Lara and Owen became friends with will return, and get a name! :)

I don't own anything from Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

* * *

 **Chapter 5: Wolf Cave**

Owen and Lara kept moving, but as they did, Owen spotted something on the ground: it looked like an old, raggedy doll.

"What's this?" asked Owen. "It looks like a little plush doll."

"It must have belonged to a little girl at one time," Lara said. "It must be from the time when people were still alive here in Yamatai."

They heard more footsteps nearby, so Owen motioned her to shush.

"They're here somewhere! Find them!"

"Capture or kill?"

"Kill them! They're too much trouble. ...You two, check that side."

"Got it."

Owen knocked over a lantern hanging from the ceiling, which lit some old fabric hanging on some scrapped crates. The fire burned the cloth and wood away, and revealed a way out.

"This way, quick!" Owen said as he grabbed Lara and ran while the men searched for them.

Some of them they had to kill, but they did it quietly by sneaking up behind them and suffocating them, or snapping their necks.

Once they were past the men, they went down a zipline and came to a rock wall that was impossible to climb...except for a narrow gap that went straight up.

Lara took a deep breath, "We can do this..."

"Time to put that flexible body of yours into action," Owen said, smirking, and smacked her butt.

"Owen!" Lara cried, although she chuckled a bit. "This is serious!"

"I know, baby," Owen said. "Just trying to ease the tension."

Lara chuckled before she began to press her back against the rock wall and began to carefully slide up, and Owen did the same.

It started raining again, which made the wall a little slippery.

"Oh, fantastic," Lara said, only to nearly slip off the edge.

"Easy!" Owen cried.

"I got it!" Lara said, and she continued climbing.

Once they made it all the way, they heard a gunshot in the distance.

"GET BACK!" Roth's voice yelled.

Lara and Owen hurried over to where they heard Roth's voice, and saw him being attacked by a wolf!

Then another wolf came out of nowhere and hit the other wolf in its side.

Owen recognized the newly arrived wolf as the one he'd befriended.

"Wait, Roth, don't shoot!" Owen called out.

"Owen?" Roth asked. "Lara?"

"Roth, they're friends!" Lara called. "They won't attack as long as you don't!"

"Well the one that was just tackled attacked me first!" Roth responded, falling to the ground. His left leg had a bad bite on it.

The beta wolf growled at the other wolf, who growled back.

"Hmm, looks like the one that attacked you is a rogue," Owen said. He and Lara ran over check on Roth.

Lara looked at Roth's ankle.

"It's not too bad," she said, "but it needs to be disinfected and bandaged. Where's the first aid kit?"

Owen ripped some cloth he had and wrapped it around his wound,  
"Have you heard from any of the others?"

"Nothing," Roth said, then tried to stand up.

"Whoa, whoa, what the bloody hell are you doing?!" Lara asked.

"That rogue wolf; it's friend took my pack," Roth explained. "The transmitter from the lifeboat's in it. If we don't get that back, we're not getting off this bloody island."

"But I just said you need first aid!" Lara exclaimed.

"Also in the pack," Roth said.

"...I think we have a friend who can help us," said Owen as he looked to the wolf, who wagged his tail at him.

Lara looked around, "I guess the other one ran off."

"Come on," Roth motioned for help.

Owen grabbed him and led him over to a nearby fire, under a wooden shelter.

"Oi, what are you doing, boy?" Roth asked him.

"We'll get the pack," Owen said. "YOU need to rest."

Just as they got over to the fire, Roth passed out and slumped down to the ground.

"Roth!" Owen exclaimed.

"Oh no!" Lara ran over to them and knelt down. "No, no, no, no. Oh, don't do this to me, you Northern bastard."

Even the wolf came over to check him, whimpering in worry.

"Lara, I'll stay with him," Owen said. "You go get the pack."

"What?!" asked Lara. "But...but Owen-"

"It's okay," said Owen as he looked to the wolf. "He'll take you there, okay?"

"...You'll be here when I get back?" asked Lara.

"Of course," he responded, kissing her. He then looked at the wolf. "Hey buddy? You know what, how about we give you a name? How about...Tsume?"

The wolf's ears perked up at that.

"I think he likes it," said Lara.

"Okay, Tsume; keep Lara safe, okay?" Owen asked him. "She's like my mate, and I don't want anything to happen to her."

Tsume seemed to nod his head in reply.

"Well...let's go, Tsume," said Lara, and Tsume soon led her away.

She had to climb a few old buildings to follow him. He went through some small tunnels that led him up to higher points, tunnels too small for Lara to fit through.

Luckily, the cave wasn't that far.

Lara managed to squeeze her way in with Tsume leading the way. When she did, though, a shadow suddenly dashed by, causing her to gasp.

She took a couple breaths to calm down, then continued following Tsume.

She could hear some kind of alarm-like noise.

'Must be the transmitter inside the pack,' Lara thought.

Eventually, Tsume found it; a silver radio with a read blinking light, next to a dark brown pack.

He picked it up and then handed it to Lara, who took it from him.

"Thank you," Lara said, but then, Tsume began growling. "W-what? What is it?"

Then, Tsume barked as he lunged at Lara, who screamed as she jumped out of the way, only to find he wasn't jumping at her, but at a wolf who was about to attack her from behind!

"Tsume!" Lara cried as the two wolves fought each other, but eventually, Tsume bit the rogue one on the nose, causing him to yowl before he ran off in defeat.

"Thanks," Lara smiled at Tsume, then pet him.

Tsume wagged his tail and whined pleasantly.

"I'll get back to the others," Lara told him. "I'm guessing you'll have to deal with that troublemaker."

Tsume growled, as if in agreement.

"I'll see you later, and thanks," Lara kissed the top of his head and left the cave.

She used a zipline to get down quicker, then rushed over to Owen, who was still at Roth's side.

"Did you get it?" Owen asked.

"Yes," Lara said. "I had some help."

"Where's Tsume?" Owen asked.

"That rogue showed up," Lara said. "Tsume has to take care of him."

"Right," Owen nodded. "Let's get Roth patched up. And you need some treatment yourself."

Lara nodded her head while Owen began first aid treatment.

He treated Roth's leg, then wrapped the cut on Lara's arm.

Unfortunately, they didn't have enough for the stab wound in her side.

"Dammit," Owen cursed.

"It's alright," Lara told him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Some time later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roth woke up.

"How you feeling, you old bastard?" Owen asked.

Roth chuckled and checked his bandaged leg, "Not bad..."

"Lara surprised me that she knew how to give medical treatment," Owen said.

"Where does a young lady like you learn to do a thing like that?" Roth asked.

Lara laughed, "Late shift at the Nine Bells. A wolf's got nothing on a broken bottle."

Owen chuckled.

Roth noticed the transmitter, "Hey, you got it."

"I had a little help from a friend," said Lara.

"Where's Tsume, now?" asked Owen.

"He ran off," said Lara. "Something tells me we'll see him again, though."

"So, I assume the plan is to take the transmitter up to the radio tower?" Owen asked.

"That should give us the best shot of broadcasting a strong signal in every direction," Roth said. The three of them sat in silence for a minute. "We need to send out that SOS, and I'm not climbing anytime soon."

"Yeah, I was afraid you were gonna say that," Lara sighed.

"Well, looks like one of us will have to go and the other stay here with Roth," said Owen.

"You can do it, Lara," Roth told her. "After all, you're a Croft."

Lara shook her head, "I don't think I'm that kind of Croft."

"Sure you are," Roth assured her, giving her a new pick-axe. This one was an actual pick-axe instead of a makeshift one.

Lara took a deep breath, "Well, let's hope I'm a fast learner, then."

She grabbed the axe, and Roth grabbed her wrist, "Just be careful, Lara."

She nodded, then stood up.

Owen briefly surprised her when he pulled her in for a passionate kiss.

"Mmph!" she let out a muffled cry of surprise before she deepened it, but then she pulled away and smiled at him. "I love you, too."

"Go get 'em, Lara," said Owen. "We'll be waiting right here for you."

Lara nodded before she turned and headed off.

She climbed back up the mountain, but had an easier way by using her new axe to climb some rock-walls that were impossible to climb otherwise.

* * *

I know this one is short too, but trust me; it's getting better!

Read and review please!


	7. Chapter 6: One Woman Army and SOS

Dun, dun, dun, another one bites the dust~!

I don't own Tomb Raider. Owen and any more OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

* * *

 **Chapter 6: One Woman Army and SOS**

Eventually, Lara managed to find her way inside a cave...and the first thing she saw was a skeleton, tied up to some sort of post, like a crucifix, causing her to shudder before she kept going. She even lit a torch up to light her way.

She found a campfire inside, so that meant that someone was in here at some point...probably still are.

She decided to sit and voice her thoughts over everything recently...

The boat crash, the storm...being captured by some crazy hermit...getting chased by wolves, finding Sam, then her disappearing, then...THAT happened with Vladimir...  
'Thank God for Roth's training. All those treks, all those climbs...' *chuckle* 'It's as if he'd been preparing me for something like this all along. It's clear that there are people living here. And they're organized. They're killing and recruiting, but why? It's like some kind of cult. But a cult of what? What do they want? What are they looking for?'

Deciding she had collected her thoughts enough, Lara got up and went off to go find her way up to the radio tower.

Moving further through the cave, she found wooden platforms fit into the walls around a lift.

She also saw several candles lit between two golden statues.

"Hmm...guilded figures," Lara surmised. "Servants to the Sun Queen."

There were even human skeletons lying around.

"Sacrifice...murder..." Lara said. "There's no record of these kinds of rituals in ancient Yamatai. ...Unless it was erased from the texts."

Then she went back to the lift and began to work her way to get to the other side. She had to burn the bags that was attached to the lift on the left to make it lighter, then jumped onto the wall and climb up with her pickaxe. That's when she saw more of the gilded statues and even a treasure.

"This may have been built in honor of her priestesses," she said as she approached the chest. "Incredible."

She opened the it, slightly gasping at what she found.

All sorts of golden treasure, scrolls, and other kinds of artifacts!

She collected them and made her way out of the cave.

Stepping back out into the rain, she climbed further up the mountain, running into more guys as she went.

After climbing higher, past a waterfall...

" **Lara, are you there?** " Reyes's voice asked via radio.

"Reyes!" Lara exclaimed happily. "Did you find Sam?"

" **We're still on her trail** ," Reyes replied.

"I'm going to try and send an SOS from an old radio tower up here," Lara told her. "Any tips?"

" **Hey Lara!** " Alex's voice replied. " **You're gonna need to find the communications console. It'll look like a bunch of old switchboards.** "

"Okay," Lara responded. "I'll let you know when I find it."

Soon, she ziplined down to the bottom of a cliff, only to find that she had walked right into an enemy camp.

"Hey! Hey, wake up! Wake up!" a man shouted. "We got an intruder!"

"Come on, grab her!" another yelled.

"Please!" Lara called as she took cover. "You don't need to do this!"

Of course, they weren't listening and began shooting her with flaming arrows, forcing her to duck down.

When she had a chance, she fired arrows at their heads, killing them instantly.

She then went through a small cave, squeezing through a tight gap.

When she came out of the other side of the cave, she saw lights high up in the distance; the radio tower.

"I have a bad feeling about this..." Lara said, then chuckled. "If Owen were here, he'd mention I'd just used of Star Wars' most famous quotes."

As she went through the cave, she saw a campfire and, seeing as how she was cold and shivering, she sat down in front of it before she pulled out the camera, where saw a video of Reyes and Alex in the ship's engine room. For some reason, a lever was sparking.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _Video Recording_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _"I'm telling you, this is a mechanical problem, not an electrical problem," said Alex._

 _"Now, Alex!" Reyes demanded._

 _Alex sighed before he pulled the lever, only for smoke to come out and causing him to cough._

 _"This looks like an electrical problem," said Alex._

 _"You think?" Reyes asked._

 _Alex pulled something out of the graphic novel he was reading; it was a picture._  
 _"Oh, hello. Hey, who's this little fox, huh?"_

 _Reyes teased along with him,_  
 _"Yeah, she's cute, huh?"_

 _"Very cute," Alex agreed._

 _"That's Alisha," Reyes told him._

 _"Alisha, I like that," Alex smiled._

 _"She's my daughter," Reyes added._

 _Alex's face fell, "Oh..."_

 _"14 years old," Reyes took the picture. "And smarter than you'll ever be."_

 _"She must...must get that from her father," Alex said._

 _Reyes turned to the camera, "Don't give him the attention. And...yeah." She walked away._

 _"I'll take a look at this," Alex said, a bit embarrassed. "Probably electrical." He turned back to the circuits. "From her father... Nice one."_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _The next recording showed Grim facing the camera, telling a story_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _"So I was out on the loch, right, doin' a spot of midnight fishin'," said Grim._

 _"Hey, Grim," said Roth. "Time to batten down the hatches."_

 _"Aye, I'll be right with ye," Grim said as he began to leave, but not taking his eyes off the camera. "So I was on the loch, right, an' this thing comes loomin' at me, loomin' out of the water, it was! So I gives it the old Glasgow kiss, you know. Gets ye out of trouble nine times outta ten, it does. Took me a week to sleep that night off, and I've not touched a drop since. See you at dinner, Sam."_

 _Sam then turned the camera and saw Reyes pulling Roth into her room, the two of them laughing together, but when Roth looked up, Sam put the camera down and left._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _The next scene showed Jonah and Whitman holding a dead fish in their left hands and a knife in their right hands_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _"Alright, can we take B-Roll please?" Sam asked, behind the camera. "Thank you." The camera panned around to show Alex standing behind a more expensive video camera, and Sam standing beside him, having just handed her camera to Tommy. "Dr. James Whitman, filler 15, take 3. And action!"_

 _"Okay, now take a firm grip," said Jonah, "and slice him down the belly, like this." He then began to slice the fish open._

 _Whitman tried to do the same, but the fish slipped out of his grasp._

 _"Good lord, cut! Cut!" he demanded. "Cut! CUT!" He then walked away, sounding like he was about to cry._

 _"Dude, what are you bitching about, now?" Owen asked as he approached with Tommy._

 _"Hey, stay out of this, all right?" Whitman asked. "I...I just didn't expect the fish to fall out of my hands."_

 _"What'd you expect, man?" asked Tommy. "Ooh, I'm touching a dead fish! I'm gonna get my hands dirty!"_

 _Whitman flicked him off and walked away._

 _"Er, is he...is he coming back?" Jonah asked._

 _"I'll go get him," Sam said, exasperatedly. She went over to console him as he complained about how was a renowned archeologist._

 _"If he's such a renowned archaeologist, how come he's complaining about getting his hands dirty?" asked Tommy._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _Cut to Next Take_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _Whitman was leaning over the table, looking at the knife and fish like it was mocking him,_  
 _"This...damned...'reality' TV business. I'm...I'm meant to be bringing culture to the people, Sam, not dinner! ...Er, no offence, Jonah."_

 _Sam walked over to his side,_

 _"The audience demands content, Dr. Whitman. You know that. So until we find the lost kingdom, we need footage like this. Come on, let's just take from the top, okay?" She walked back over to Alex's side. "We're going to make you look like Gordon Ramsey in editing." Whitman picked up the knife and fish again. "Dr. James Whitman, filler 15, take 4. Action!"_

 _"Now take a firm grip," Jonah began as he held his knife, "and slice him down the belly, like that." He then sliced the fish open._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _Next Recording_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 _Sam was taking a video of the sunset when she heard Lara talking, causing her to turn and see her walking with Roth._

 _"I've studied them so much, I can see charts on the back of my eyelids," Lara said, "but if I'm not right about Yamatai being in the Dragon's Triangle-"_

 _She was holding her jade trinket necklace as she walked._

 _Roth noticed and reminisced,_  
 _"I remember when you found that on one of your father's digs. You ran up and showed it to me dressed in your penguin pajamas."_

 _Lara laughed, "I was five years old, it was my first find."_

 _Owen appeared out of nowhere, standing next to Sam,_  
 _"I didn't know about the penguin pajamas~!" He teased._

 _"Wha...are you recording this?!" Lara asked while Sam laughed with Owen. "Just wait until I get my hands on you two!"_

 _Owen ran off, still laughing._

 _"Sorry," Sam said sheepishly, trying to stop laughing._

 _Roth chuckled, then turned back to Lara,_  
 _"You've got great instincts, girl. You just have to trust them."_

 _"That's what my father used to say," Lara said._

 _"Now there was a man who ran on instinct..." Roth said. "For better or worse... He would've been so proud of you, Lara."_

 _Lara looked ahead, "We're getting closer to the storm."_

 _"Well, whatever's coming," Roth put his arm around Lara's shoulders and hugged her. "We'll get through it, eh?"_

 _Lara hummed a small laugh, then looked at Sam,_  
 _"Excuse me, I've got to kill these two!"_

 _The camera's erratic movement indicated that Sam was running, and she was laughing hysterically._

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ _End recordings_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lara chuckled at that last scene, then put the camera away.

"Okay, Lara. Pull yourself together," she slapped her cheeks a couple times. "They're counting on you."

She then got up and continued on the path...but then she heard voices up ahead, causing her to gasp before she took cover and saw several men walking around...and one of them had a searchlight.

First, she fired arrows at the two men closest to her, hitting them in the head. Thankfully, their friends didn't notice.

Then she shot the searchlight, destroying it.

However, that only got her spotted, and soon, an alarm was raised. Before she knew it, she was dodging bullets!

She shot a few of the guys that moved toward her, and came up behind her.

But she had to get closer to get the guy that was using what seemed like a gatling-gun.

Then, one of them threw a flaming bottle at her!

"Oh, shit!" she cursed before she jumped out of the way, just before it exploded!

She shot the guy that threw it, then kept moving forward and taking cover from the gunfire, moving to a wrecked building built into the wall.

But then, she was chased by two men, one of which had a machete!

"Hold still, you bitch!" he shouted as he tried to slice Lara, only for her to shoot him in the face with an arrow!

She had to get physical with the other guy, but she managed to slice out his throat with her axe.

She went inside the building, going up the steps and shot a guy who had arrows.

She killed two more guys, then found an old chest that had a bronze Japanese coin, most likely from the 19th century.

Soon, she continued exploring the ruins of this old metal building.

"This bunker," she said. "World War 2 era...probably Japanese."

She then made a zipline down toward a pool of water, but when she landed in it, she gasped in shock.

"It's freezing!" she exclaimed, but then, she heard voices nearby.

"Over here," a voice called out.

"Alright, let's get these lines hooked up," another voice said. "The brothers inside need power."

Lara got out of the water and walked by a collapsed structure.

A banging sound erupted from nearby and the first voice yelled in pain,  
"Ow...fuck!"

"You alright?" the second voice asked.

"Fine...fine! Just do the job," first voice responded.

"How many came in from the new wreck?" second voice asked.

"A couple dozen...and some women," first voice said. "Father Mathias brought one in himself."

"For the ritual?"

"Probably. We'll find out, tonight."

Lara gasped silently, realizing that they must have been talking about Sam...but a ritual for what, exactly?

There was a big crack in the wall that was big enough to fit through, but it was filled with gas.

If she went in there, she'd surely choke to death. Fortunately, she found a valve to turn the gas off using her pickax.

It took some effort, but she managed to turn it.

Once the gas was gone, she crawled through the crack, and under some pipes.

She heard more guys up ahead, grunting from working, so she drew her bow and got an arrow ready.

"Careful, careful...it's loaded with fuel," one of the men said.

"Yeah..." the second man responded, his voice straining.

Lara moved over to the doorway of the room she was in and checked around the corner. Two men were standing in front of a red barrel.

'They said it was loaded with fuel,' Lara thought, smirking a bit.

She aimed her arrow at the barrel from around the corner, and fired.

 **KABOOM!** The whole thing exploded into flames!

It blew the two men away, killing them instantly.

Two other guys came from the right to see what happened.

Lara shot them both, then moved down the hallway.

As she continued to move, she saw that other parts of the building were collapsed. She jumped up a wall to a hole near the ceiling which led to another room.

The room was a mess, with a glass window that lead to another room. On one of the walls was a picture of a statue of Himiko. On the floor next to a lit lantern was a sheet of metal, with the same message she and Owen saw in that room underground; "NO ONE LEAVES".

"Hmm...no one leaves," she said before she began to look around the room and saw the window. "...That glass looks weak."

There was another hole in the wall that she could crawl through to get to the next room.

She noticed an open gas pipe nearby, but there wasn't enough to fill the room, so she could still breathe.

As she went over to turn the valve, she noticed another message on the wall; "NO ESCAPE".

She used all her strength to turn the old, rusted wheel, then a man ran into one of the rooms on the opposite side of the glass.

He fired at her, but the glass blocked it. Gas began to flood the control room she was in, so she got out of it via the hole she'd entered through.

She stood a few feet away, grabbed a lit lantern,  
"Fire in the hole."

She threw the lantern through the hole, into the gas filled control room, where it exploded, destroying the windows and doors to the control room and other room, and blew the guy away!

Once she was sure it was safe, she came out of hiding and found the man, trapped under some rubble. Instead of helping him, she picked up his rifle.

"...Please...!" the man coughed. "End it...!"

Lara scowled before she took aim and shot him right in the head.

"Go to hell," she said.

In the next room, there were a bunch of supplies from other wrecks.

One crate had the same message, "NO ONE LEAVES", and on another wall was more tally marks, up to 63.

There was even a journal, from WWII...

" _Expedition Field Report:_

 _Despite loss of two cargo ships, the expedition has made landfall. We've established a communications center high in the mountains and coastal base construction has commenced. Initial surveys have revealed several possible excavation sites._

 _The island is much larger than we originally anticipated and layered with many centuries of history. The task of identifying the source of the storms will be long and arduous, but if we succeed in our mission here, our victory in this war will be certain._ "

Lara took the journal with her, then ran to another room down a short hallway, but the room was so dark she couldn't see anything.

"NOW! LIGHT ER UP!" A male voice yelled, and a bunch of searchlights flashed on, temporarily blinding her.

Before she knew it, the men began to rush at her, but luckily, she got out her machine gun and began firing at them before they could get to her!

"Oh, shit!" one of them cursed as he took cover. "SHE'S GOT A MACHINE GUN, GET DOWN!"

"I'M NOT GOING OUT THERE!" yelled another as Lara kept shooting men down, left and right.

She took cover and killed any more guys that stepped out of their cover to attack her.

One even tried to hit her with a flaming bottle, but she took cover before it exploded.

Before too long, they were all wiped out.

She looted the dead bodies for anything she could use and went to the center door, which led to a busted up control room.

Above the door was another message, "Embrace the Flames".

On a wall inside the control room was another drawing of the sun and more messages. "The Storm is watching", "Fear the Demons", and "Father Mathias will set us FREE".

"Set us free from what?" Lara wondered. "This island?"

Soon, she walked out of the room and headed down a hallway, only for a man to bust down a grate and jump down from the ceiling, but she quickly shot him before he could do anything to her. Once he was down, Lara walked into a door and found a large console, covered with leaves. She tried to dust the leaves off and pull a lever...but it broke off.

She sighed in frustration, then got out her radio,  
"Alex, are you there?"

" **Yeah** ," Alex answered, sounding like he was out of breath.

"The console's a wreck," Lara told him.

" **Damn it** ," Alex cursed. " **Well, unless you see a Radio Shack around, you're going to have to patch in manually through maintenance panel.** "

"Okay, that sounds simple enough," Lara said.

" **Yeah, well uh...** " Alex stammered. " **You're going to have to find it first. On those old towers they installed those panels high up, ...I mean WAY high up.** "

Lara turned to look at the tower through the hole in the ceiling,  
"Climbing again, great."

Left with no choice, Lara began to make her way up to the tower. As she did, she found another journal, but this was different from the one she found, earlier.

" _6 September, 1992._

 _I am alone now, the rest of them are dead. This is for the best. I watched from the cliffs as their makeshift boat was tossed and turned by the storms. The clouds looked like a hand upon the water, desperately clawing at their doomed boat. None survived the wrath of the storm._

 _I observed it carefully - The storm was localized and sudden. And just as suddenly it was gone. And this is the most interesting detail: it didn't seem random. I sensed emotion...something deliberate._

 _I don't know what's happening on this island. Not yet. If I ever hope to escape, I must understand this phenomenon. Now my real work begins._ "

'Mathias sacrificed his fellow survivors just to learn something new about the island?' Lara thought. 'What kind of twisted man does that?! And what does he mean about a sudden storm, with emotion? That doesn't make any sense!'

She pocketed the journal, then went over to a human shaped hole in the wall.

She looked inside, placing her hand on a pipe, which was a bad idea cause it was burning hot.

She ducked under it and moved inside to a cramped area filled with pipes.

'If Owen were here, he'd make another quip about my body being more SEXY when I show off my flexibility,' Lara thought, chuckling.

She then sighed, wondering how he and Roth were doing...but she couldn't focus on that for too long. She had to find a way up to the tower.

She shimmied down the corridor, being very careful not to touch the pipes.

One pipe burst out some steam, which startled her a bit, but she didn't jump too much in surprise.

She ducked under some pipes and kept moving,  
"That tower better work after all this."

She eventually came to a dead end, but she got down and kicked a weak part of the wall down, which led back outside.

She was no closer to the tower, but the weather...

"Snow?" Lara questioned, looking around. "This isn't normal."

She found another campfire, where she took a moment or two to rest and catch her breath. As she did, she made a few modifications to her pistol: she added a port vented slide and a muzzle brake, then proceeded to cross a broken bridge, where she saw a dilapidated old jeep...but the moment she got to it, a man grabbed her!

"Aha!" he shouted. "I GOT ONE!"

"AAH!" Lara screamed as she grabbed onto the jeep.

"COME HERE!" the man shouted as he pulled at her...or rather, at the back of her pants, which caused her to have flashbacks of when Vladimir violated her.

"AAAAAHH!" she screamed. "GET OFF! LET GO!" She then kicked him in the face, causing him to fall down the mountain.

She heard someone whistle, she hid behind a pile of sacks of rice.

"Damn, how many are there?" she lamented.

A couple men were a just ahead of her, hiding, and there was another on top of the rood of a wrecked building.

"There she is!" one of them shouted.

"We need some help over here!" added another as they began to shoot at Lara while some zip-lined down toward her.

She fired arrows at the two guys on the ground, then shot the guy on the roof.

She shot the men on another building with her pistol, shooting them as they jumped.

She then used an arrow to shoot some barrels of fuel on another building by some more men, which exploded and killed them all.

As she kept going, more men kept trying to shoot at her, but she either shot them down with arrows before they could reach her, or shoot them in the face when they got too close.

Once they were all dead, she looted them for supplies, then checked the building she'd partially blown up.

There was another journal, once again written by Mathias.

" _13 October 1990_

 _Over the years, there have been other survivors, but I have avoided them. And if they got in my way...I was not merciful._

 _But now I know I need others. In order to move forward, I must fully control this island. So I will gather a small group of loyal followers. They must understand power and the need to organize. But more importantly, they cannot hesitate to kill or use violence. It will be part of their life here. They will need structure and purpose and work. But when this island is mine, I will discover the true secret of the storms._ "

'Mathias is a truly evil man,' Lara thought. 'The way he speaks of violence and killing so casually...this is madness!'

She shuddered, not wanting to think about what Mathias might have been planning. She had to hurry and get to the radio tower, then find Sam before it was too late. On that, she kept moving onward.

She jumped to another ruined building, and more men appeared.

One came down a zipline towards her, but she shot him with her pistol before he even landed.

They were yelling about keeping her away from the tower.

'Fat chance, you bastards!' Lara thought as she shot a guy on the ground, another who came down the zipline, and another who was on another building shooting fire arrows at her.

She did get grazed by a bullet, but it didn't stop her from shooting them down with arrows, then shooting them with her rifle when they got too close.

Once she was sure all the long range attackers were dead, she jumped from the roof to the ground.

Before she could enter the next building, two more guys opened the doors, followed by a man who was bigger than both of them.

"Out of the way," the big guy pushed one of the other guys out of his way. "She's mine."

The big guy had a metal shield, like the kind police use, and a machete.

"Since my boyfriend's not here, I've gotta ask," Lara said. "Meat or potatoes?"

The man didn't respond, then he swung at her.

She rolled out of the way, and drew her rifle.

She tried to shoot him, but his shield was in the way and she was forced to run and take cover when he swung his machete at her.

When he came back at her, she had an idea.

After he swung at her again and she dodged, she shot him before he could protect himself with the shield again.

The man fell the ground, dead. She looted him, finding a new attachment for her bow.

Another man came out of the building,  
"Oh, shit! She's still alive!"

Lara shot him in the head, "Yes...still alive."

Once she took care of him, she walked in and found some ammunition to reload with, then check another room where she found what looked like some old rusty dog tags.

"Some kind of soldier's identity tags," she theorized. "I don't recognize the kanji...were these used during World War 2?"

She pocketed the tags, then ran up every flight of steps she saw, till she reached the roof.

There was another campfire, and another journal written by Mathias.

" _17 September 1982_

 _A plan is taking shape in my mind. In order to unlock the power of this island, I first need to understand what has happened here. I need time and room to study this place. There are many mysteries here; foremost of which, the ruins of an ancient Japanese Empire... and a mysterious Queen. It all started with her._ "

'Mathias started uncovering clues to the true nature of this place,' Lara thought. 'But what was his plan?'

She closed the journal before taking the time to upgrade her bow with a wrapped string, thus making it a bit stronger than before.

Once she was done, she climbed along a rope over to the tower, which was right across from her.

Once she made it, she began to climb up the ladder to the top...of course, the ladder broke on the way up, due to all the rust and wind. She then began to climb up even higher, even though she was startled by some crows and the snow made it a little slippery, but she soon managed to make it to the top!

And she made sure to remember the number one rule in climbing; never look down.

She got out the radio, "Alex?"

" **Lara** ," he answered.

"I'm at the panel," Lara told him, as she opened it.

" **Okay...the tower should boost the signal from the transmitter** ," Alex said.

"Okay," Lara said as she put the radio next to the panel and the walkie-talkie at the top.

" **All right** ," Alex said. " **Find the emergency channel and get a clear signal on your radio before you broadcast the SOS. Hey, we've got everything crossed for you down here, L.C.**"

"Thank you," Lara replied.

She turned the dial till she heard a voice, accompanied by some static.

" **You're tuned to the International Emergency Broadcast Response System** ," A man's voice said.

Lara turned the other dial until the static was gone.

" **Please identify your situation and location coordinates, and stand by for a response.** "

"Mayday, mayday," Lara said. "This is Lara Croft of the Endurance. We are stranded on an island in the Dragon's Triangle. We need help and medical supplies. Please respond." No response. "Come on, come on." She grabbed the transmitter and spoke into it directly. "Mayday, mayday. This is Lara Croft of the Endurance..."

" **This is aircraft N177A** ," A man's voice responded, making Lara sigh in happy relief. " **Been searching for you since the distress call from your vessel. Almost given up hope!** "

"So had we!" Lara answered.

" **We've got your approximate position** ," said the pilot, " **But we could sure use a visual.** "

"I'll figure something out," said Lara.

" **We'll be heading your way soon** ," said the pilot. " **Out.** "

Lara heaved a sigh of relief while Alex was heard laughing and cheering.  
" **Lara Croft, you are my hero!** "

" **I wanna kiss you all over, right now, babe!** " Owen's voice exclaimed.

"Me too, baby!" Lara happily said back.

" **Hey, Reyes actually just cracked a smile!** " Alex said.

"Right, need a signal," Lara said. "A fire, fuel, flames. I can do that."

She climbed down to the lower-upper part of the tower, then jumped on a zipline that took her over some mountains, but made it easier and quicker to get down.

"That's one way to get down," she said as she made her way down toward a couple of fuel tanks. "Fuel tanks." She then used her pickaxe to spill the fuel onto the ground. "Hmm...need a way to light this fuel."

She then went inside a nearby bunker, where she found a fire striker, using her pickaxe to create sparks.

"This should do the trick," she said, lighting her torch and headed back outside.

She walked over to the puddle of fuel and lit it, making flame travel down its path till it went inside the tanks, and exploded!

Lara backed away from the flames, then heard the rumbling of an engine somewhere in the sky. She turned around, and she gasped in joy upon seeing the plane.

"There it is!" she exclaimed as she waved to the pilot...but as it began to draw near, dark storm clouds came out of nowhere and a lightning bolt suddenly struck it, sending it into flames, to Lara's horror.

As if that wasn't horrifying enough...she heard an eerie voice echoing in the air.

"Dare Mo Saranai..." it whispered.

And even worse, the plane was going down, in her direction!

She ran away in the opposite direction as the plane descended closer to the ground, and one of its engines broke off.

It skipped along the ground towards Lara, but she jumped out of the way and began sliding down a steep slope.

Along the way, she had to dodge both parts of the plane and wooden platforms in her way before she finally managed to grab onto a ledge, then leap to the other side!

Good thing she did, cause the plane engine destroyed the platform she was just on.

* * *

I think this is the longest chapter yet!

Japanese Translation:

 _Dare Mo Saranai_ \- "No One Leaves"

Read and review please!


	8. Chapter 7: Attempted Rescue

Sorry, this one's short again.

I don't own Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

* * *

 **Chapter 7: Attempted Rescue**

Lara coughed before got back on her feet, then she heard someone call for help.

Looking up, she saw the plane's pilot coming down via parachute,  
"The pilot...I have to get to him!"

She looked to her left and saw a banner that she could use as a trapeze, which she used to swing across to another hut, but when she landed, the hut couldn't handle the shock of her landing and began to collapse off the mountainside, so she had to run as fast as she could to make it out to the other side!

She jumped to the next platform, but it also couldn't handle the shock of her landing, so it began to fall off the mountainside.

In fact, almost every platform she jumped to collapsed!

Finally she made it to one that didn't collapse, and heard gunfire in the distance.

"What...what the hell? Go away!"

Another gunshot, followed by a scream of pain. Lara gasped, realizing it was the pilot, so she ran out and soon found him being attacked by one of the Solarii!

"Get-get off me!" the pilot cried before the man killed him with his machete!

" **Lara, you there?** " Roth's voice asked from the radio, giving Lara away.

She turned it off, drew her gun and shot the man with the machete.

She jumped to the next platform, when Owen's voice spoke from the radio,  
" **Lara?! What the hell happened?** "

"This storm..." Lara said. "It came out of nowhere. These clouds, they just surrounded the plane!"

" **Lara, listen,** " Roth's voice said. " **We saw the crash from here, so you must be close to our position. Just get back here safe!** "

"Alright..." Lara answered. "On my way."

On that, Lara began to make her way back to Roth and Owen...although she was still shaken from what happened.

She climbed a small flight of stone steps that curved.

When she got to the top, her foot got caught in a rope trap that hung her upside-down from a tree.

"Over here!" More men came towards her.

"There! We got her!"

Lara drew her gun, and even though she was upside-down; she aimed with perfect accuracy and shot them.

"Stay back!"

After she shot them one-by-one, she then shot the rope she was hanging from, causing her to drop to the ground and continue getting back to Roth and Owen. Along the way, she found some rope lying around, and she suddenly got an idea. She attached the rope to one of her arrows, then shot at a nearby lookout post where some of the Solarii were stationed, then she pulled on the rope, which ripped the beam from under them, causing them to collapse to their deaths!

She pulled out her rifle and shot more men who were standing on a higher platform.

One of them threw a Molotov cocktail, but she managed to avoid it and shot the guy who threw it.

Once she was sure the coast was clear, she got up.

Using the newly acquired rope for her arrows; she used it to pull a large wooden crate that had a lot of ropes tied around it, away from a rock-side.

Now it was close enough for her to jump to, and climb. Then she jumped to the nearly collapsed lookout post that was somehow still partially standing.

As she kept going, she found a path where a bridge had collapsed, but there was a gate over the other side with some rope tied around it. She shot an arrow onto the gate before she tied to the post, then began to make her way across. Once there, she found an old door that she tried to open, but she wasn't strong enough to open it by hand.

Since there was some rope, there, she used the arrows and pulled it open before she walked through the cavern, where she found Roth and Owen waiting for her.

"Lara!" Owen exclaimed as he ran to her side and hugged her, tightly.

"I'm really glad you both moved," Lara said.

Roth chuckled, "You and me both girl."

"I still can't understand it..." Owen said. "One minute, the plane was fine...then the next..."

"That storm just came out of nowhere," Lara continued. "No early signs that it was coming; it just...APPEARED."

"It's not your fault, Lara," Roth told her.

"I called them here, Roth," Lara argued.

Owen cupped her cheek and turned her face to look at her,  
"Hey, we'll find another way."

That's when they heard the sound of the radio crackling.  
" **Mayday! Mayday! This is co-pilot Jessop of aircraft N177A!** "

"Another pilot," Lara said as she pulled out her walkie-talkie. "Hello? Hello, can you hear me?!"

"Hey, can you hear us?!" asked Owen. "Hello!"

" **I got badly hurt when I landed and need urgent aid!** " Jessop's voice said. " **Is anyone there?** "

"Captain Jessop? Do you read?" Lara pleaded.

" **I've deployed a smoke signal,** " Jessop said. " **Please respond.** "

"Damn it, he can't hear me," Lara realized. She saw a blue smoke signal on a lower mountain. "I have to get to him."

"No," Roth told her.

"His signal's just over there," Lara argued.

"We've got our own people to worry about," Roth tried to reason with her. "We'll need to regroup as soon as they find Sam."

"I can't just leave him out there alone," Lara told him. "I need to get to him."

She was about to walk away, but Roth grabbed her arm,  
"Sometimes, you've got to make sacrifices, Lara. You can't save everyone."

Lara pulled her arm out of his grip, "I know about sacrifices."

"No, you know about loss," Roth corrected her. "Sacrifice is a choice you make, loss is a choice made for you."

Lara shook her head, "I can't choose to let him die, Roth."

She turned to walk away, but Owen stopped her,  
"Lara, wait-"

"Don't try to stop me, Owen," Lara glared at him.

"Well I am," Owen gave her a serious look. "You're not going alone."

Lara's eyes widened a bit, but she smiled,  
"Thanks."

Owen smiled back, then turned to Roth,  
"You gonna be okay by yourself?"

"Like you keep saying; I'm a tough old bastard," Roth told him.

Owen and Lara both chuckled, then headed down a hill.

From where they were standing, they could see a blue plume of smoke coming from a cliff.

"There," said Owen. "We gotta get over there, and fast!"

Lara nodded before she shot an arrow toward another gate, then tied the rope around another post.

"Whoa, where'd you get that from?" asked Owen.

"I have my sources," Lara smiled. "Now let's go!"

Soon, they both zip-lined down to the bottom.

Right when they landed, they heard voices,  
"This hut looks clear."

Lara and Owen ducked behind some cover as three men came out of it.

"We ain't gonna find anyone up here," one of them said.

"You're probably right, but we got orders," another argued.

Lara aimed an arrow and shot one of them in the head.

Owen then shot the other two in the head.

They got out from behind cover and looked inside the hut. There was a chest, with a stone mortar and pestle.

"This was probably used to make medicinal herbs," Lara said.

"Most likely," Owen agreed.

Then Reyes's voice spoke from the radio,  
" **Anyone there? Roth?** "

" **I'm here, Reyes,** " Roth responded. " **What's your situation?** "

" **We followed a group of men to some kind of...city,** " Reyes explained. " **This place is insane, Roth. What the hell are they doing here?** "

" **I don't know, and I don't think I want to know,** " Roth said. " **Any sign of Sam or Whitman?** "

" **Nothing yet,** " Reyes answered. " **Are you with Lara and Owen?** "

" **Yes...** " Roth said. " **We'll be heading down the mountain soon to meet up with you.** "

" **Okay, we'll try to get in a bit closer,** " Reyes said. " **Keep this channel open.** "

"Reyes is gonna see we're not with Roth, sooner or later," Owen said. "We better hurry and keep moving."

"Right," Lara said as she shot another arrow at a gate at the other side of a gorge before she and Owen used the rope to zip line down, again. That's when they found the blue smoke, nearby.

"There's the signal!" Lara exclaimed.

The next cliff was up high, with a gate with a rope.

Lara connected a rope to it and a post next to them, then she and Owen climbed across.

They heard two men up ahead, so they stayed quiet.

While one had their back turned, Lara snuck up on him and choked him to death with her bow. Unfortunately, they got spotted, so they ended up having to take over. Owen shot down a couple with his gun before Lara finished the last of them with her bow.

The next cliff had another gate, so Lara connected a rope, then they climbed over.

The next obstacle to get past was a group of small mountains coming out of the ground.

There were some trees with ropes on some of them.

As they used the trees to attach ropes and zipline around the mountains, they managed to reach one closest to where the co-pilot's smoke signal was. That's when they found another journal.

" _It is time for me to leave this accursed island. I have seen enough of Yamatai. I cannot explain the power the Sun Queen wields, but it is not of this earthly plane._

 _As I suspected, she knew my intent the moment I set foot on this island. She has manipulated me, toyed with me to see what information I would seek, but she always knew. If I am allowed to leave this place alive, I must warn my lord, warn him that we should avoid Yamatai at all costs. If we wish access to her seas, we should pay any tributes she requires, but we should never cross the Sun Queen. To do so would lead to our ruin._

 _Of the other things I have seen… those dark horrors, I can never speak of again._ "

"The ambassador who wrote this discovered some terrible secret and Yamatai," Lara surmised. "What did he find, and what happened to him?"

"Who knows?" Owen said, then he spotted something. "The smoke signals over there."

Lara turned to see he was right; at the next cliff was the blue smoke signal, and a parachute stuck to another gate.

Lara connected another rope and they climbed over.

Halfway across, the post the other end of the rope was attached to began to come out of the ground.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Owen lamented.

"Go faster!" Lara cried as they began to climb across the rope, faster, only for the post to end up falling off due to the wind. Thankfully, Lara had her pickaxe to catch herself on a cliff, and even managed to catch Owen.

"...So...is it too late to ask for a last kiss?" Owen quipped.

"Owen," Lara chided. "Not the time."

"Just trying to lighten the mood," he smiled, then pulled out a climbing pick and stuck it in the rock wall.

They climbed up to the cliff, but the pilot was nowhere to be seen.

"Captain Jessop?!" Lara called out. "Where'd he go?"

"Well, he can't have gone far," Owen said, as they walked through the gate, then through a mountainside pass.

" **Hey Lara, Owen,** " Alex's voice said from the radio. " **Roth told us about the plane. Don't worry, there's gotta be another way off this rock, right?** "

"I hope so," Lara said. "Any sign of Sam?"

" **We've tracked her to some old Japanese palace,** " Alex said.

"I don't like the sound of that," Owen said.

" **Hey, don't worry,** " Alex tried to reassure them. " **She's probably...just...sightseeing.** "

"You're a terrible liar, Alex," Lara told him. "You HAVE to be careful in there. Good luck."

As they kept walking, Owen had something to confess,  
"Hey, can you do me a favor, Lara?"

"What's that?" she asked.

"If we see Whitman again, hold me back," Owen said. "Cause I'm most likely gonna kill him."

"I'd actually like if you did," Lara muttered, causing Owen to chuckle. "Just save a good punch for me, at least."

"That, I can do," said Owen. "That moron."

Owen held Whitman partially responsible for Lara getting raped.

If he hadn't surrendered to those Russians...the very thought of it made him want to tear the cowardly doctor a new asshole.

They found another statue of Himiko, which led into a deep cave.

Inside was another campsite, so they took a moment to rest and upgrade their gear.

Lara used this opportunity to make her bow even stronger than before.

Once they were done, Lara lit a torch and led them down the left tunnel.

As they continued onward, they found that the tunnel was becoming more like that of some kind of temple instead of a cavern, with the walls covered with all kinds of statues.

"A pilgrimage," Lara whispered as she looked around and found yet another statue of Himiko. "A queen...Himiko?"

"Hey, Lara, come here! Look at this!" Owen called, and soon, Lara approached him and found that he was standing at the entrance of what looked like a huge castle.

"Incredible," Lara said in awe. "This must be that palace that Alex was taking about."

There were some fully assembled human skeletons lying around, and right on the steps that led inside was...

"Captain Jessop?!" Owen called out.

Jessop reached his hand out to them, making a choked gurgling sound, like he was choking on his own blood. His face was bleeding and it looked like he'd been stabbed multiple times.

"Oh my God!" Lara exclaimed.

"Jesus...!" Owen gasped.

Multiple red barrels fell from the second floor of the palace onto the bridge they were on, and the sounds they made indicated they were filled with oil.

A man stood on a second floor balcony, with a fire arrow aimed at the bridge.

"SHIT!" Owen yelled as he and Lara back to the other side, just before the man shot the arrow, blowing up the bridge.

"AAAAAAAAH!" Lara screamed as she and Owen were sent flying from the force of the explosion. As they landed on the other side, they looked up and gasped upon seeing Mathias.

"Mathias!" Owen shouted.

"For children, you two have caused me a great deal of trouble!" Mathias shouted.

"Give Sam back!" Lara yelled.

"But you're just as naïve and predictable," Mathias continued, ignoring Lara's demand. "Kill them!"

Before they had a chance to react, three men came up behind them and knocked them out.

As they were beginning to fade in and out of unconsciousness, they could hear the Solarii screaming about something.

"It's the Oni!"

"The Stormguard are here!"

They could hear the sound of screams of fear and pain, demonic voices speaking in Japanese...men getting skewered and bludgeoned to death, left and right...and finally...darkness.

* * *

I'll try to make the next few chapters longer.

Read and review please!


	9. Chapter 8: Shanty Town

I own nothing from Tomb Raider. Owen and any more OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX

* * *

 **Chapter 8: Shanty Town**

When they woke up, they were hanging by their arms from hooks in the ceiling of a big room filled with rotting corpses.

"Oh great, another situation where we're just hangin' out," Owen joked. "I feel like Vin Diesel in Triple X. On the plus side, we won't have to deal with Danny Trejo coming in, attempting torture."

"Owen," Lara interrupted. "Not now."

"Right," Owen sighed.

They swung their bodies back and forth until their momentum allowed them to get their legs up against the ceiling.

They pulled against their bindings until they were cut and fell, hitting the ground, hard.

As Lara got up, she gasped in horror upon finding the body of Captain Jessop, causing her to stumble back against Owen, who held her close.

"What's happening, here?" Lara asked.

"I don't know," Owen said. "All I know is that we need to find a way out."

That's when they heard a loud roar coming from outside, causing them both to glance back, and they could see a huge shadow lumbering by the gate.

"...Now," Owen said before he and Lara began to find a way out of their prison.

Lara spotted a hole in the wall that they could crawl through, so they went over to it and crouch down.

Right as they got in, they heard a thumping noise and a slight clank of metal, followed by heavy footsteps.

Owen went against the tunnel wall to hide and Lara leaned against him, but she was breathing too hard so he covered her mouth.

Some giant, humanoid creature wearing ancient armor walked by, dragging a mace with its left hand.

"What the hell is that...?" Owen whispered, only to cover his mouth when the monster stopped and began looking around. When it didn't spot him and Lara, it walked away, dragging its mace with it.

"What was that thing?" Lara asked.

"I don't know and I don't wanna stick around long enough to find out," said Owen. "Let's get out of here before that thing decides to make us its dinner."

Lara nodded before she and Owen began to make their way out of the tunnel...and they tried their hardest not to vomit at the sight of disembodied heads, arms, and other body parts.

Eventually, they slid down and ended up in a pile of bones.

"Ugh, like Chamber of Secrets when Harry and Ron landed in a pile of rat bones," Owen commented.

Lara shivered, "That would've been worse!"

The wall across from them was broken with some wood still barely attached, leaving a big hole so they could see outside.

Some strong winds blew in from outside, almost like a sandstorm.

They walked down a corridor, littered with bodies stuck to the walls, and human skulls on steaks.

The next area was blocked by a group of boarded wood with barbed wire.

One dead body had a shotgun in its lap, still in surprisingly good condition.

"Sorry mate," Owen picked it up. "Let's hope this thing still works."

He then aimed at a wooden barricade, which he shot apart. However, as they were about to jump, they heard voices.

"They're here, somewhere. I heard them down below."

"The Guardians will kill them. Let's get the fuck out of here before they find us!"

"Dammit," Owen cursed. "They're looking for us. Let's go, Lara!"

They ran past more piles of human bones.

"All these people," Lara said. "How long has this been happening?"

"Centuries, maybe," Owen guessed.

Soon, the two found themselves in some sort of tomb.

"Oh, I hate tombs," Lara bemoaned.

"I'm not thrilled about them, either," said Owen.

(AN: Ironic, since she's the Tomb Raider.)

"Hello," He was facing the largest statue of Himiko they'd seen so far.

There were two smaller statues holding staffs standing in front of it, and there was a stone coffin.

"A Sun Queen and her stormguard..." Lara surmised, looking at the pictures carved into the stone of the coffin. "Himiko. The first Sun Queen. This IS Yamatai!"

"Well, despite all the shit we've gone through; at least we know you were right," Owen said.

"Thanks," Lara smiled, then prepared to push the lid off the coffin. "Help me with this?"

"Right," Owen's extra strength really helped in pushing the lid.

Inside was a decayed body wearing a crown and headdress.

"And she's really here," Lara stated, before she and Owen coughed from the dust and stench.

"What's left of her," he commented.

"This is incredible," Lara said in awe before she looked to a painting of a woman, surrounded by fire.

"What's that?" asked Owen as Lara lifted up a torch to the painting.

"It looks like some sort of ritual," Lara answered. "A sacrificial ritual. Horrible...but why were the women burnt like that?"

The next painting showed a ship and a Japanese woman.

"A journey, a pilgrimage to...is that this monastery?" Owen asked.

The next painting showed some women pouring water.

"Pouring water? But why?" Lara wondered.

The final painting showed a woman, most likely Himiko, standing in sunlight.

"And there you are, Queen," Owen said.

"Wait..." Lara double checked the previous painting. "It's not pouring water, it's transferring power."

"Of course!" Owen realized. "It's an ascension ritual! It's how she chose her successor!"

"There!"

"Lara, heads up!" Owen called as he pointed up at the Solarii.

"Oh, no!" Lara gasped.

"Take her!" one of the men shouted.

"Back off!" shouted Owen. "I have a shotgun!"

"RAAAAAAARGH!" yelled one of the men as he ran at the couple.

"Don't say I didn't warn you!" Owen shouted as he began to shoot the men down, and as for Lara, she used her pistol as well as her pickaxe to finish them off.

"What the hell is going on down there?" Another man's voice called, followed by an inhuman roar, most likely from that creature they saw.

"What...the fuck?" Owen exasperated.

"Let's just get out of here and avoid it," Lara said.

The only way out next was a gate blocked by old wooden boards. Luckily, there was a bell hanging in front of it with ropes around it.

Lara shot a rope arrow and pulled it back, pulling the bell along with her and then it swung back, breaking down the door.

"We would've knocked but...your doorbell insisted we break it down," Owen quipped.

Lara chuckled a bit.

"All right...I have to laugh at that one," she said.

"See?" Owen asked. "There are times when jokes are appropriate."

"Okay, yes," Lara smiled.

They went through the gate and crouched to crawl through a small hole.

"Hey, I found a way out down here!" A voice yelled from up ahead.

"But the man and the woman..." Another voice replied. "We gotta find them."

"The Guardians can have them," The first voice replied. "I'm getting the hell out of here now!"

"Goddamn it... okay..." The second voice said. "Okay wait! Help us open the gate."

"Guardians? Is that what they call those things?" Owen questioned.

"Must be," said Lara. "And they're obviously not human...whatever they are, we have to stay away from them...for now, at least."

"Yeah," Owen said. "Right now...we got some chumps to take care of."

"Oh shit, they're here!" The first voice yelled, followed by a roar.

"Hey, get back here you coward!" The second voice yelled.

Owen used his shotgun to destroy another blockage of wood and barbed-wire, which led outside to more strong winds.  
"Crap, step back into the hurricane."

"Owen, I don't think-" Lara said.

"It's gonna be okay!" Owen answered. "Trust me!"

Lara nodded before she and Owen started to make their way up some rotted stairs, but the wind blew them away!

"Against the wall, now!" Owen shouted, and he and Lara did just that.

They shimmied along the wall, managing to climb past exterior support beams till they got to another platform.

Then they jumped to one that had part of it hanging low enough to grab.

There were times it looked like they were going to fall, but they managed to hang on before they reached the other side.

They eventually found a hole in the wall, which they proceeded to climb through.

"Can't...get this thing...open," A strained voice said from inside.

"Doesn't matter," Another voice said, but before he could continue, he was shot in the head by Owen.

"It's them!" The first guy yelled, getting three more guys to come in. One with a shield, one with a pair of machetes, and one with a gun.

"Look sharp, Lara!" Owen shouted as he began to shoot some of them with his shotgun, while Lara fired with her rifle. The one with the shield tried to hit her, but she ducked and then shot him in the face. Another tried to sneak up on her, but she sliced his neck open with her pickaxe.

"Anyone else want some?!" Lara questioned. "HUH?!"

Some of the men hesitated, but they kept going on the attack, anyway.

"Take THAT!" Lara shouted as she stabbed one of them in the head with her pickaxe, then shot another with her pistol.

Then they went up to the second floor of the building.

"No way forward," Lara said. "Now what?"

"That bell," Owen pointed at a large bell handing from the ceiling, behind some kind of hanging ornament with ropes tied around it.

"If we knock it down, we'll break the floor below."

Then Lara looked around and noticed several windows, rattling from the strong winds.

"...I think I have an idea," she said before she used her pickaxe to open one of the windows, letting in the raging gale.

"Whoa!" Owen cried as he shielded himself. "What are you doing, Lara?!"

"Just wait!" Lara told him, then shot a rope arrow at the hanging ornament and pulled it back.

The wind blew it forward and it hit the bell, making it fall from the ceiling, then it broke through the wooden floor of the level below them.

Unfortunately, it also made the structure for the floor boards collapse, so Lara and Owen fell forward till they hit the ground, hard, again.

"Dammit," Owen groaned. "I'm sick of getting concussions!"

"Ugh..." Lara groaned as she tried to stand up, but at the moment, they both heard that same demonic roaring from earlier, causing them to look up and see the Solarii, being chased by the Guardian!

"The Guardians are here!" cried one of the men before he was killed by the huge monster, who then turned and glared at Lara and Owen.

"Oh, shit!" Owen cursed. "RUN, LARA!"

"AAAH!" Lara screamed as she and Owen made a run for it.

Then, to make matters worse; the building they were in was falling apart and being blown away by the winds.

They had to dodge burning lamps and debris, but eventually, Lara tripped and fell, just as the building collapsed completely, causing them to slide down another gorge!

"NOT AGAIN!" Owen yelled as he fired at several walls of wood in their way with his shotgun, and eventually fell into an underground lake.

They stood up quickly, coughing out water, then limped over to a small patch of sand and rocks in the lake.

Owen crawled onto the sand and laid on his back, then Lara crawled on top of him, both taking time to catch their breaths.

"I need a drink," Owen sighed.

"Babe, you don't drink," Lara reminded him.

"I know, but all this shit is gonna make me want to," Owen groaned.

Lara chuckled, "I might join you."

At that moment, they heard a familiar voice on the radio.

" **Lara? Lara?** "

Lara gasped, realizing it was Sam's voice.

"Sam!" she exclaimed in relief.

"Sam, thank God!" Owen cheered.

" **Hello?** " Sam called again.

Lara grabbed the radio, "Sam, it's Lara!"

" **Oh God, Lara,** " Sam sighed in relief. " **It's good to hear your voice.** "

"Yours too Sam," Lara replied.

"Hey Sammy," Owen said. "Is the rest of the crew with you?"

" **No, I just managed to steal this radio off a guard,** " Sam said, sounding scared. " **I've been kidnapped.** "

"What?" Lara questioned. "Where are you?"

" **I don't know,** " Sam answered. " **Some old Japanese palace. They keep talking about a-a "fire ritual". ...Lara, Owen, I'm fucking terrified. ...Shit, someone's coming. I've got to hide this thing.** "

"Sam?" Lara called for her, but no answer. "Sam?!"

"Lara...she said 'fire ritual', didn't she?" asked Owen.

"Just like in Himiko's murals," said Lara, worriedly.

"We need to get there," Owen said.

Lara nodded, then brought the radio back to her mouth,  
"Roth, are you there?"

" **I'm heading towards the palace,** " Roth said. " **The others are being held there too.** "

"Owen and I will catch up to you and all three of us can go in," Lara replied.

She and Owen ran over to squeeze through a tight gap in the rock-wall.

Owen wolf-whistled.

"I know; I'm even more sexy when I show off my flexibility," Lara interrupted, knowing what he was gonna say. "Now, we really need to focus."

Owen held his hands in defense, "You're right, sorry."

Soon, the two made it out and found another campfire, and after what they had been through, they certainly needed a rest, so they sat down together.

"Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse," said Lara. "What were those things in the monastery? They were dressed like the Stormguard...and those sounds they made, almost inhuman...shit, just listen to yourself, Lara. You sound like Dad. It's like they're the remnants of some lost civilization...okay, now I really sound like Dad."

"Is that such a bad thing?" asked Owen, causing Lara to chuckle, but then she got grim, again.

"All we know is that they killed those men," said Lara, "And I have a feeling they wouldn't hesitate to kill us...but we can't think about this, now. Sam's in trouble and we have to get her back. She's counting on us."

Own nodded, then they got up to continue onward.

They jumped over a broken bridge, walked past a small stream, then found three more Solarii.

"Damn, this is the good stuff," One of them said.

"If you show up to the ceremony drunk, Father Mathias will cut your throat," Anther one told him.

"I can hold my-" The first man tried to say before Lara shot him in the head with an arrow.

Owen shot the second guy with his pistol.

"Oh, shit!" cursed the third one as he tried to find cover, but Lara shot him in the leg with an arrow to keep him from running away, then went and finished him off with her pickaxe.

She and Owen ziplined across to the shack, where Owen blew away more wood and barbed-wire with his shotgun.

" **Oh God, that was close,** " Sam's voice came quietly from the radio. " **Are you there?** "

Lara grabbed the radio, "We're here, Sam. Are you okay?"

" **What do they want with me, guys?** " Sam asked her own question. " **A fire ritual? This is so fucked up!** "

Owen saw the palace from a hole in the wall of the shack. It was still far away.  
"Listen, we're coming for you. We're getting you outta there!"

" **Please, please come get me,** " Sam begged.

"I promise, I promise, Sam," Lara assured her.

"Me too," Owen added.

Suddenly, another man's voice was heard.

" **Hey, she took your radio!** "

" **Oh, no!** " Sam cried.

"Sam?" Owen asked, worriedly. "Sam?!"

"Sam!" Lara shouted.

" **Ah! AAH!** " Sam screamed. " **HELP ME! PLEASE! NO! NOOOOOOOOO!** "

"STAY AWAY FROM HER, YOU BAST ARDS!" Lara yelled. "STAY AWAY!"

"IF YOU HURT HER, YOU'RE DEAD!" Owen yelled. "ALL OF YOU ARE GONNA DIE, HEAR ME?! ALL OF YOU!"

Knowing they had to hurry; they headed down the mountain, killing another group of Solarii they ran into.

Then they came to a river with a strong current.

"Shit, no way around," Owen realized. "We gotta cross."

He took Lara by the hand and they began to make their way across the river. However, it ended up proving to be too strong, even when they grabbed onto pieces of wood. Just when it seemed like they would make it, though, a piece of wood gave way and they ended up getting swept downstream!

"Not again!" Owen cried. "HANG ON, LARA!"

"OWEN!" Lara screamed as she held onto him. "AAAAAAAAAH!"

Owen blasted a blockage of wood and barbed-wire with his shotgun and they went further down the stream.

There was a small drop, then more of the stream, another barbed-wire blockage which Owen destroyed, then at the base of the waterfall was an old, wrecked plane.

Lara and Owen crashed into it and made it flip upside-down, and they landed in its cockpit on the windshield.

"Well...things can't get much worse, can they?" asked Owen...only for the glass of the cockpit to start cracking. "...I just had to say it."

"Grab that parachute!" Lara cried. "Hurry, Owen!"

Owen grunted as he tried to reach for the parachute, but the more he moved, the more the glass cracked.

"Hurry!" Lara urged.

"Got it!" Owen said as he grabbed it.

He quickly slipped it on before the glass broke and they fell!

"OWEN!" Lara screamed as she fell.

Owen reached for her as he pulled the parachute cord, "GRAB ON!"

As they fell, she managed to grab his hand and he pulled her close before he set the parachute completely, halting their fall.

Owen grabbed the straps to control which direction they went, even though he wanted to hold Lara as she clutched tightly to him.  
"HOLD ON TIGHT, OKAY!?"

"RIGHT!" Lara yelled back.

They hit several branches on their way down but eventually hit the ground.

"Ugh...ow...!" Lara grunted as she held the wound in her side.

"Did one of you have to snap?!" Owen groaned/yelled at the parachute. He noticed Lara clutching her wound, so he checked it.  
"Damn, it's gotten worse. Before we find Sam, we NEED to get that treated. Okay?"

"I'm fine," Lara said.

"No you're not!" Owen shouted. "Lara, don't try and pull that tough crap on me, now! If that gets any worse, you'll die before we rescue Sam! Hear me?!"

Lara stood up, but grunted in pain,  
"Okay, you're right."

"Thank you," Owen said, and helped her along.

They moved slowly towards a rundown makeshift village, before they fell through the ground and slid down a steep slope, which did not help Lara's condition.

"AGH!" she screamed in pain when they hit the bottom. "Urrrgh..."

"Dammit, there's gotta be something I can use for disinfectant and some bandages around here, somewhere," said Owen.

Then he spotted an old helicopter,  
"That chopper; maybe there's something in there."

"Hopefully," Lara groaned.

They had to sneak past more Solarii, who were interrogating someone, and heard them beat the hostage to death. The couple killed the Solarii, then made it to the chopper.

They ran inside, where Owen found a box on the wall that said "First Aid Kit". He opened it, pushing the pill bottles out until he found a bottle for painkillers, but it was empty.

"Shit!" He cursed.

"Nothing?" Lara asked.

Owen moved her to sit on the floor, against the wall,  
"You rest, I'll search."

She nodded, then he checked a small crate, which only had an old boot and some tape in it.

Then he checked the cockpit, where the pilot's body still sat, dead.

"Sorry pal," Owen apologized as he searched him, only finding a cigarette lighter. "Really? That's it?" He sighed and growled in frustration, and looked at Lara, who was breathing a bit heavily.

He went over to her and knelt in front of her, "No medical supplies, but... I have an idea. It'll be extremely painful..."

"W...what are you going to do?" Lara asked.

"...Lemme borrow an arrow," said Owen, and Lara handed him one. Owen then lit the arrowhead with the lighter, heating it up. "Okay...now bite on this." He then gave Lara a stick, which she bit down on.

"Owen...what are you doing?" Lara asked, worriedly.

"...Don't hate me for this," Owen said as he lifted up Lara's shirt. "1...2...3...!" He then stabbed her wound with the arrow, causing Lara to let out a stifled scream of pain.

Well, it was stifled from outside the helicopter, but a flock of birds heard her scream and flew away.

Inside, Owen threw the arrow away as Lara still shouted in pain, just not as loud as her first scream, and breathed heavily.

"I'm so sorry, Lara," he apologized. "It doesn't matter if we did or didn't find medical supplies; your wound needed to be treated. And this is the best we could do, given the circumstances." He caressed her cheek "I would've done something different if I could've."

Lara looked at Owen, but she didn't even look angry. She just looked tired and in a lot of pain, causing Owen to smile at her before he hugged her, causing her to hug him back.

"...I love you..." Lara whispered, causing Owen to chuckle, too.

"Love you, too, Lara," said Owen.

Lara then had an idea,  
"Could you hand me that lighter, that tape and my bow, please?"

"Sure," Owen grabbed everything she asked for and handed it to her.

She taped the lighter above the grip of her bow,  
"Let's see how these bastards like fire arrows."

"Badass," Owen smiled.

They left the helicopter and looked at the town There was a large tower of fire coming from one of the shacks.

Lara got out her radio, "Roth, can you hear me?" No answer. "Roth?"

" **Lara, are you okay?** " Roth asked.

"I'm fine," Lara replied.

" **You don't sound fine to me,** " Roth argued.

"I'm fine, Roth," she repeated.

" **Is Owen still with you?** " Roth asked.

"No, but loyal as always," Owen joked.

Lara and Roth both chuckled, " **Where are you now?** "

"We're in some kind of shanty town, near the fortified palace," Owen answered.

" **I'm still coming down the hill,** " Roth told them. " **How'd you get there so fast?** "

"Long story," Lara sighed.

" **I can see the town from here,** " Roth said. " **Are you near that large gate?** "

"We're heading there now," Owen replied.

"It's the outsiders!" A member of the Solarii shouted from the ground below them.

"Dammit!" Owen cursed as he began to shoot. "Lara, just rest for now, okay?! Don't push yourself!"

"But Owen-" Lara started.

"I got this!" Owen shouted as he shot another man in the face.

He shot a man who was at a lookout post in a building across from them, then focused on the guys coming in from the right and in front of them.

He drew his shotgun and blew a lot of them away,  
"EAT SHIT, YOU UGLY MOTHA-FUCKAS!"

Before too long, they had all been finished off and Owen sighed in relief before he looked to Lara, who was lying on her side before he went to help her up.

"Thanks," Lara said as she stood up while Owen nodded and smiled at her.

"Come on," he said. "Can you make it?"

"Yes," Lara answered. "Let's hurry."

They jumped over the shanty shacks to a small gateway that led inside a small cave like shack, with a dead body hung up like a trophy around some candles.

Owen stepped in first, and got his leg caught in a rope trap, leaving him handing upside-down.

More Solarii ambushed them, Lara shot the barrels of fuel below the stairs at the entrance, which killed all the men.

She cut the rope around Owen's leg with her pickaxe.  
"Thanks."

She nodded, then looked at the dead body by the candles,  
"Another sacrifice. My God, what's driven them to this?"

"Desperation to get off this island," Owen said, looking at another wall with tally marks carved on it. Number of marks: 126.

"...Dear god," Lara whispered in horror before they headed outside...only to be met with shouting. As they looked up, they saw several Solarii members coming down toward them from the rooftops of an old village.

"Lara, you think you can fight back?" asked Owen.

"Of course!" Lara answered, holding her bow and arrows.

"Hmm..." Owen hummed as he spotted several red barrels. "Shoot those barrels on my signal, got that?"

"Okay," Lara nodded as she and Owen took cover.

As several of the men began to close in, Owen raised his hand, telling Lara to hold her fire. Then, once they got close to the barrels, he looked to her and nodded his head quickly, causing Lara to stand up, light up an arrow, and shoot the barrels, causing them to explode!

"Well, that's one way to wind this up with a bang," Owen joked.

Lara chuckled at that.

They climbed and jumped across more roofs, until they came to a barred gate.

Lara used her pickaxe as a lever to turn the wheel to open the gate, and they went inside.

There was more of the shanty town ahead of them, and some men sliding down a zipline.

"Stop the old man! He's getting away!" One of the guys yelled.

"What's going on?" Lara questioned.

"Get yer fuckin' hands off me, ya bloody bastards!" yelled a familiar voice.

"Holy shit, it's Grim!" cursed Owen. "We gotta hurry and get up there!"

"Fuck you!" Grim's voice yelled. "Boil yer head!"

One guy fell from a tower.

Lara and Owen hurried over, and they could tell Grim was putting up a fight.

"Easy, old man! Take it easy!" One of the men said.

"Will you just kill the son of a bitch?" Another guy asked.

"Oh, you want some of this too?" Grim yelled. "Ya fuckin' scunner!"

Another one soon fell off the tower.

"...Are you sure he needs our help?" asked Owen.

"Owen! Go!" Lara shouted.

"Right, sorry!" Owen apologized as they hurried to Grim's location. As they ran, Lara shot one of the men who was climbing up to Grim with an arrow, causing him to fall down, dead.

"Lara, Owen, up here!" Grim called.

"Grim!" Lara called back. "You escaped!"

"They couldn't hold me," Grim boasted. "Get up here, we need to get to the others." Before they could climb the ladder... "Heads up, you've got company!"

At that moment, a stick of dynamite was thrown at them.

"OH, FUCK!" Owen yelled as he and Lara took cover, just as the dynamite exploded.

"Outsiders, give it up!" One of the men yelled.

"Not a chance you bastards," Lara said, then she and Owen began firing there rifles at the ambush of men.

"Sound the alarm," one of them shouted before Owen shot him dead.

"Bull's eye," Owen smirked, only to gasp upon seeing another dynamite stick being thrown. "LOOK OUT, LARA!"

"Whoa!" Lara cried as she and Owen ran and took cover again.

"Separate them!" shouted another man. "Make sure the girl's alone!"

Owen shot the guy who said that, "Never gonna happen!"

Three men with machetes came down the zipline.

Owen blew one away with his shotgun and faced the other one with his combat knife.

Lara fought the last one with her pickaxe.

Soon, they were all finished off.

"...Well, that was fun," said Owen.

"Lara! Owen! You're alive!" Grim exclaimed as he came down.

"Grim!" Lara called. "Where are the others?!"

"They're still locked up inside," Grim answered, "but I know where they are!"

"Well, that's a relief," said Owen.

"Get up here and we'll get em out together," Grim told them.

"We can't climb up there from here," Lara said.

"Ahh, dammit," Grim cursed. "Well, they got some kinda setup for haulin' cargo. Maybe you can use it to come around the other side."

Owen and Lara saw what Grim was talking about,  
"Alright, we're on our way."

Soon, the two began to make their way up to Grim, looting the dead bodies of their enemies for any ammo they could get. They used the ropeways to climb up and disabled any alarms they found on the way.

As they got higher, though, they were soon spotted.

"The outsiders are here!" shouted one of them. "Warn the others!"

"Shit," Owen cursed as he prepared to fire his rifle. "Come get some, you ass-clowns!"

He shot a barrel of fuel where two of them were standing, making it explode, killing them.

He and Lara ziplined over to the now clear area, only for more men to appear.

"Oh, COME ON!" Owen yelled through gritted teeth. "Just how many survivors has Mathias turned into murdering psychopaths?!"

"Keep shooting!" Lara yelled as she shot some of them down.

And keep shooting he did, killing some more, then jumping to the next area once part of the windmill passed.

However, when they got there, they saw that one of them had a gatling gun, forcing them both to take cover.

"Dammit, there's no end to 'em!" cursed Owen as he shot another man in the face.

Lara just barely managed to shoot the guy with the gatling gun in the face with an arrow.

Even then, there was still one more left, and this one had a rifle on him. Luckily, Owen took care of him with just one shot of the shotgun.

"Gotcha," Owen smirked. "That takes care of those guys."

"But something tells me there will be more waiting," said Lara.

They waited for a cargo lift to come by them on the pulley system and jumped on, letting it carry them over to the next area.

"Hey Grim, you still there?" Owen called over to where Grim was, but he was gone.

Then he ran back in sight, followed by two Solarii members, who grabbed Grim and pulled him back.

"It's a trap!" Grim warned them. "Show em your teeth, you two! Give em hell!"

"Oh, no," Lara muttered before she brought out her bow and fired at some red barrels, causing an explosion that killed some of the Solarii, but more were still coming. Owen growled in anger as he began to fire at them.

"Come on!" he yelled as he kept shooting. "You wanna come at us?! We're right here!"

"Owen, look out!" she shouted as she pointed at another flaming bottle, but Owen shot it in mid-air!

Some ziplined over to them, but they quickly sliced their throats or heads.

They shot more of the guys on the tower across from them, but there seemed to be no end to them, or the flaming bottles they threw.

Eventually they killed all of them, until three more came out of hiding; one of them was holding Grim and a machete at his throat.

"Drop your weapons!" The man holding Grim ordered. "Or we kill your friend!"

"Don't fuckin' do it," Grim told them, making the man cut his neck a bit.

"Okay, okay!" Lara yelled, putting down her bow and arrow. Owen dropped his shotgun.

"That's nothing, pal," Grim taunted. "I grew up in Glasgow."

"Now kick them off the edge," The man ordered, but then Grim used the back of his head to break the guy's nose, grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder.

He took the guy's machete as another man ran at him, only for Grim to axe him in the head with it.

The last guy tried to shoot him, but he dodged the shots and charged at him, pushing him against a rusted metal railing.

The metal collapsed after Grim head-butted the guy, but as he began to fall, he grabbed Grim and they both fell to their deaths!

"GRIM!" Owen shouted.

"NOOOO!" Lara shouted too.

It was too late...he was gone.

"...Damn that salty old codger..." Owen cursed.

"...No...Grim," Lara whispered before she clenched her fists. "We'll make them pay..."

"Damn right...!" Owen agreed.

* * *

Poor Grim...

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	10. Chapter 9: A Friend In Need

I don't own anything from Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

No flames!

* * *

 **Chapter 9: A Friend In Need**

Soon, the two began to make their way up to the tower, but as they began to make their way across via a ropeway, they were suddenly being shot at by arrows.

"There they are!" shouted one of the Solarii. "Cut the line!"

"Dammit!" Owen cursed. "Faster, Lara!"

She did climb faster, but the rope was cut before they made it across.

They fell to a rock wall that was climbable with a pickaxe and knife, but now they were sitting ducks.

"I've got her!" One of the men aimed an arrow at her, but then his head exploded in a bloody mess, followed by the resounding sound of a sniper rifle.

"Shit!" The other man cursed, before he too was shot in the head.

" **I've got you two covered,** " Roth's voice said from the radio. " **You're clear to climb up.** "

"Thank God," Lara sighed in relief, then she and Owen climbed up.

Once they made it, they looked at another tower and they saw the light reflecting off the scope lens from Roth's rifle.

"Roth...Grim's dead..." Lara told him sadly.

"They tried to use him as leverage to make us surrender," Owen continued. "But he wouldn't let them. He died a fighter."

" **Grim you...you stubborn bastard,** " Roth muttered, but a small smile on his face knowing his friend died fighting.

"I'm so sorry Roth," Lara told him.

" **No... Don't be sorry, Lara,** " Roth told her. " **Just make it count. We'll raise a glass to the old man when we get out of here.** "

Owen shed some tears, then pounded his chest twice with his right fist,  
"Here, here!"

"We're gonna try to get closer," Lara told him. "Can you cover us again?"

Roth checked how much range he had from his sniping point,  
" **Yeah. I've got a clear sight with my rifle until the palace wall.** "

"Well, let's get going, Lara," said Owen.

"Okay," Lara nodded as they began to climb their way up to the bridge.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~As they climbed...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" **Rescue chopper N88RC responding to SOS, Inbound from freighter Trinity,** " A voice said from the radio, through a lot of static.

" **This is Conrad Roth of the Endurance,** " Roth responded. " **Do you copy?** "

No response except static and interference. Lara and Owen rested at a campsite to upgrade their gear.

" **Lara, Owen, did you hear that?** " Roth asked them. " **A rescue helicopter is inbound!** "

"That's great news, Roth," Lara exclaimed. "Set up a signal. We're going in for Sam and the others."

" **But Lara, maybe I should-** " Roth began to suggest.

"This isn't like the pilot, Roth," Lara interrupted. "I got Sam and the others into this mess. I'm getting them out." She looked at Owen, who'd been silent throughout that entire conversation. "Owen, you okay?"

Owen shook his head, "Not really. The image of that sudden storm destroying that plane is still fresh in my mind."

Lara knew he was serious, cause he didn't make any kind of joke or quip,  
"It still unnerves me, too."

"The scariest part was that there was actual anger in the air when the storm appeared," Owen continued. "And then a female voice yelled in Japanese "No One Leaves". The very same message we've been seeing all over this island. It's like when the Nazis were punished for opening the Ark of the Covenant in Indiana Jones; it may have been a movie, but it was definitely an act of anger from God. What if something like that is happening here?"

"Don't talk like that, you're scaring me," Lara told him. "You're starting to sound like Mathias."

"What...?" Owen asked, emotionlessly.

Lara got out some of the journals she'd found,  
"When I was by myself, I found some journals. Most of them were written by Mathias, and he talked about the same thing you are."

"...What are you saying?" Owen asked. "Are you saying that there's actually a divine power at work here?"

"...Normally, I don't believe in that kind of thing," Lara said. "I prefer to think rationally...but...the more I think about it...the more I can't get it out of my mind."

"If there is one, all evidence points to Himiko," Owen said.

Lara nodded, put the journals away and stood up, "We'd better get moving."

Owen stood up and followed her.

They ran across a Japanese styled bridge, but it was crooked and practically half of it was missing.

"We'll have to go under," said Owen. "Be quiet and make sure you don't get spotted."

Lara nodded before she and Owen began to make their way under the bridge, making sure not to get heard or seen.

"I can't see anything down there," said one of the Solarii. "Did they kill the outsiders?"

"Father Mathias will feed us to the Oni if we don't kill them," said another.

"We won't fail," The first one replied. "The Sun Queen is with us."

They made it to a hole in the top of the bridge, where one of the Solarii almost spotted them.

Before he could say anything, Roth shot him, making him fall through the hole and causing the floor beneath Lara and Owen to collapse.

Luckily, they grabbed hold of some wooden boards on the support structure so they wouldn't fall.

"Hey, what was that?! Who's shooting?!" One of the men asked.

"Sniper! Take cover!" Another one shouted.

"Go! Go now!" Owen urged as they began to climb up and make their way across the bridge by clinging to the side until they reached an opening in the barrier.

" **Stop!** " Roth called from the radio. " **Don't move. If they see you, they'll kill you.** "

Soon, he shot two of them in the head.

" **Now! Go!** " he said, and Owen and Lara kept moving.

They soon stopped at another opening in the bridge barrier.

" **Stop! Don't move!** " Roth called.

"He's over there!" called one of the Solarii. "Look for the muzzle flash!" He was soon shot down by Roth, followed by two more.

" **Go!** " Roth said, and Owen and Lara kept going. At one point, Roth shot another guy, who ended up falling over the bridge and nearly taking Lara with him, but she managed to hang on.

They eventually made it to a broken gap in the railing, so they climbed up.

"Thanks for the cover," Lara said. "I think that makes us even."

She sat down, facing where Roth was, so she didn't notice a man coming up behind her.

He grabbed her from behind and put her in a headlock, but Owen, who was still hanging from the ledge, shot the man's leg, then Roth shot his head once he had a good shot.

The man fell over the edge, taking Lara with him, but Owen caught her hand before she fell.

"Gotcha!" Owen exclaimed before he pulled her up, causing Lara to hug him. However, it was no time for sentiment, for they soon found themselves being shot at!

" **Dammit, there's too many of them!** " Roth cursed. " **Lara! Owen! Get out of there!** "

"RUN, LARA!" Owen shouted as he and Lara began to run for their lives, trying to avoid the bullets.

"LOOK OUT!" Lara shouted as she pushed Owen down to the ground along with herself, both of them narrowly dodging a literal bullet that went flying over their heads.

They jumped to a makeshift shack that was built into the mountainside, but the Solarii threw some explosives that made it collapse, so they jumped to another shack that was also destroyed.

"DAMMIT, I FEEL LIKE NATHAN DRAKE!" Owen lamented.

They jumped off another shack onto a rock wall that they climbed up, till they made it to a cave entrance that led underneath the palace.

Lara grabbed the radio, "Roth, we're heading in."

" **Are you sure about this, Lara?** " Roth asked.

"We'll get them, and come back," Lara assured him. "I promise. ...Who's Nathan Drake?"

"Oh, he's the main protagonist in a video game series called 'Uncharted'," Owen said. "But everything seems to break or get destroyed around him. Fans have even called him 'Nathan Break'!" He couldn't hold back his laughter.

Lara chuckled a bit at that, herself, but she knew it wasn't the time for jokes. They had to find Sam and the others and quick, so they began to delve deep into the caverns, where they found several skeletons and even dried blood stains.

"Ugh...this place gives me the creeps," Owen whispered while Lara lit up a torch.

They moved through some neck deep water that took them under a very low ceiling.

Once they were past it, there was more of the caverns, with lit candles and statues of Himiko around.

They heard noises up ahead, so Lara drew her bow and Owen took out his shotgun.

"That sounds like Mathias," whispered Owen.

"Shh~!" Lara shushed softly as they got closer, and sure enough, they saw him, preaching to the rest of his men.

"My brothers, listen to me now!" Mathias announced. "Out in the world, we were nothing. But here... here, we are the Solarii, the Sun Queen's children." Owen quietly scoffed at that. "She brought us here for a reason. I know you want your freedom, I know you want to escape this place. But to do so, we must release our Queen. Like us, she is a prisoner. If we can free her, we free ourselves."

Lara and Owen finally saw Sam, tied to a totem pole around even more wood like people would spread out to burn women who were suspected of being witches, and she was gagged.

"Sam..." Lara whispered.

"This girl..." Mathias continued. "She carries the blood of this land. She could be the key. The Ritual of Flames will show us the truth! Himiko, you are the first and the last..." A man walked over, holding a torch. "Speak to us now!"

Lara came out from cover and shot the man holding the torch with an arrow.

"Who was that?!" asked one of the Solarii.

"It's the outsiders!" shouted another.

"Kill them!" Mathias ordered. "One of you, continue the ritual!"

"NO!" yelled Lara as she and Owen began to fight and shoot their way to Sam. Owen shot one man in the face with his shotgun, then shot two more in their kneecaps before he blew their heads off. As for Lara, she sliced one of them in the neck with her pickaxe, then shot another in the face with her pistol.

"You want a piece of me, well come on!" Owen yelled, blowing one guy's face apart with his shotgun, stabbing another guy in the head with his knife, and shooting one more guy in the chest with his pistol. "Come on, motha-fucka!"

One guy snuck up on him and hit the back of head, knocking him to the ground, then more guys started kicking him.

"OWEN!" Lara yelled, seeing he was in trouble, but then one man flipped her over his shoulder, making her fall to the ground and more men kicked her.

"You killed our brothers!" One of them shouted. "Now I'm gonna kill you!"

"This is for Vladimir, outsiders!" Another yelled.

"ENOUGH!" Mathias ordered. "Dmitri, Nikolai! Bring them to me."

The two men known as Dmitri and Nikolai and grabbed Lara and Owen before they brought them before Mathias.

"Let us go, you bastards!" Owen shouted as he struggled to get free.

"Shut up, before I decide to take revenge for Vladimir!" Dmitri threatened.

"That sick piece of shit got what he deserved!" Owen yelled. "He raped her!"

Sam gave a silent gasp, looking at Lara.

Even Mathias was a bit surprised, "I wasn't aware of that, and I am truly sorry. Sexual assault is not something I condone. If you hadn't killed him, I would've done it myself."

"...Well...thanks, I guess," said Owen. "Still, that doesn't give you the right to take Sam from us!"

"She is a descendant of Himiko!" Mathias argued. "She holds the key to our freedom!"

"What if you're wrong?" Owen suggested. "We know Himiko transferred her power to someone when she chose her successor. But maybe something happened to Himiko that you don't know about!"

Mathias backhanded him in the face, "You're a naïve fool!" He picked up the dropped torch. "Ready yourselves, brothers! Our queen is about to speak!" Sam gave a muffled cry of panic. "Speak to us, Himiko!"

Sam gave muffled cries of panic as they began to light the fire.

"Sam!" Owen and Lara cried...but to their surprise, the flames didn't burn her! In fact...it was almost as if they were touching her, gently!

A strong wind blew from the waterfall behind them and put out the fire.

"She...she's the one," Mathias declared, then turned to the crowd. "Soon my brothers, we will be reborn!" He gestured to Sam. "Take her to the throne room." He turned to Lara and Owen. "Your fight is over."

Owen and Lara both looked at each other, worriedly.

"Do you believe me, now?" he asked.

"Yes," Lara said, fearfully.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dmitri and Nikolai led Lara and Owen away to a stone bridge.

The couple finally sprung their move, hitting the two men and retrieving their stolen weapons, then jumped off the bridge, into a small river of blood.

Dmitri and Nikolai looked over the edge.

"I can't see their bodies," Nikolai said.

"I don't think they survived," Dmitri said.

Lara and Owen slowly emerged from the river, making sure to stay quiet, despite the disgusting predicament they were in.

"Come on, let's get down there," Dmitri said, then he and Nikolai left.

Lara and Owen moved through the river, past some scattered human bones.

Eventually, though, they managed to make it out...but their skin and hair was stained red with the blood. Lara shuddered, feeling the blood dripping off her. It wasn't like water. It was thick...goopy...sticky...and she hated it.

She would KILL for a shower, right now.

They made their way through the geothermal caverns, finding another campsite to rest.

"Did you mean what you said about something else happening to Himiko, or were you just trying to dissuade Mathias?" Lara asked.

"I meant it," Owen said. "We don't know everything that happened. If Himiko could transfer her power, then the next person should be able to control it. But that storm was completely random, and the anger behind it... Something went wrong, I can feel it."

"...Sam..." whispered Lara, worriedly, causing Owen to put his hand on her shoulder.

"We'll get her back," he said. "I promise you."

"Owen," she held his hand. "I'm so glad you're with me. I'm not sure if I could get through this alone."

"Always," he told her, smiling. "And I think you'd manage. You're a pretty tough girl."

Lara chuckled at that as she leaned against Owen's shoulder. "You sound like Dad..."

Owen noticed something, "Hey, another journal..."

" _Every new brother is assigned a job - a purpose in the Solarii. As long as Mathias continues to prove his spiritual connection to the Sun Queen, they will fall in line and believe. Initiation to the brotherhood is brutal. We need to destroy their humanity, so that they in turn can be inhumane. New recruits are thrown into the depths of the caverns and left to starve and fend for themselves for days... sometimes weeks. Those who make it out alive are welcomed with open arms._

 _I still can't explain what kind of power Mathias has tapped into, but I don't care anymore. We're never getting off this goddamned island - some days I'm convinced we're all in hell already. God knows with the things we've done... we might as well be._ "

"Nice to know that some of them have doubts," Owen said.

"What makes these men truly dangerous is their faith," said Lara. "They believe in the Sun Queen and will stop at nothing to bring her back."

"And they'll use Sam to do it," said Owen.

They got up and moved further into the caverns.

"Wait, wait... what do you want me to do?" A voice from up ahead asked. "Please!"

"Get down...!" Owen whispered as he and Lara ducked behind a barricade and saw a young man getting pushed into a pit by an older man.

"Just hope they don't kill you, too fast," said the older man as he closed the door...and not long after, the younger man was ganged up on by others, who seemed to be laughing maniacally as they began to mercilessly pummel him!

"My god...!" whispered Owen in horror.

These new people were unnaturally pale; their skin as white as sheets, and they were only wearing pants.

To add to the horror; they killed the younger man and actually started to eat him.

"Oh...my...God..." Lara whispered, horrified.

"This explains all these decaying bodies and severed limbs we've come across," Owen whispered.

Lara gagged, but quickly covered her mouth, not wanting to give herself and Owen away.

"We gotta get the hell outta here...!" Owen whispered. "If we don't, we'll be on the menu...!"

They snuck down and shot the group of cannibals dead.

There was a turn-wheel for a gas pipe by the exit door.

Lara pried it off with her pickaxe, stood back and shot a fire arrow into the leaking gas smoke, making the resulting explosion break down the door.

"Let's hurry before more of those maniacs decide to show up," said Owen as he and Lara made their escape.

They ran through the caverns, till they heard more voices, prompting them to hide.

"Goddamn these caves..." One of the voices said. "Surprised this whole place hasn't gone up yet."

Three Solarii came down some steps.

"I might have to cap that vent in the pit again," The second man said.

"If it's loose, let's just leave it for the next shift," The first guy responded.

Lara shot the first two guys with arrows, and Owen shot the third guy with his pistol.

A fourth man tried to throw dynamite at them, but Owen shot him in the head before he could.

"Sonuvabitch," he cursed. "You okay, Lara?"

"I got grazed in the arm," Lara answered.

Owen checked it, "It's not too bad."

They got moving again, and found another journal, but this was written by Reyes.

" _Alisha, honey, I didn't want to write this, but if I don't do it now, I might not have another chance. Your mama got herself into some trouble… and… I might have to be gone for a very long time. I don't know when or if you'll ever read this, but I want you to know I fought for you. Everything I did in my life was for you – all the time away, all the money I saved, all the sacrifices. I'm sorry for everything you're gonna have to go through without me._

 _If I don't make it back, find Conrad Roth. You've never met him, but he's the best man I've ever known. And he's your father. You have his eyes._

 _You're the light of my life and I love you more than anything._ "

"...Oh, Reyes," Owen whispered, sadly.

"It's my fault we're in this mess," said Lara. "I have to make it right. I've got to find a way to get us out of here."

"Don't blame yourself, Lara," said Owen. "We'll save the others, I swear!"

They ran up some steps and found a chest that an old funeral fan inside.

"Wow," Owen said in awe. "Looks like early 18th century."

"Black silk fans were used when conducting funeral rights for important nobles," Lara explained.

"You think they might have done something like this for Himiko?" asked Owen.

"Perhaps," said Lara, "But then again, from what we've seen so far, maybe Himiko was not as benevolent as her people had believed."

They moved through more of the caverns, killing any more men they came across.

At that moment, Lara found another gas vent, which she used her pickaxe to pry open before she and Owen backed up, then she blew up the wall by shooting a flaming arrow.

They continued to move through the caverns, killing some men who were "praying" to a sacrificed person.

Owen spotted something in front of it,  
"Another journal... from Mathias..."

Lara sighed, "What does it say?"

" _5 June 2011_

 _The years pass and I now hear her whispers in my sleep. It is the Sun Queen... she is urging me on. I see her magnificent face with every sunrise. Soon now..._

 _My Solarii toil in her name, building a city from all that she has brought to the island, torturing and sacrificing in her name. Soon now... we will find the one. I long for escape, but not simply from this island. From all of this... the wrecks, bodies, and squalor. If I can bring my Queen back, it will all vanish in an instant._

 _And like the sun rising anew, she will bathe all the land and seas with her light, burning away everything. I will emerge from this scorched earth... reborn and pure._ "

"...Well, I guess this is the time when he clearly went nuts," said Owen.

"This is truly the rambling of a lost madman," Lara added. "He's committed his... sanity to this cause and will stop at nothing to fulfill some twisted destiny he thinks Himiko chose for him."

"We can deal with him later," Owen reasoned.

They used some leaking gas to blow up another door, but this explosion caused the caverns to begin collapsing.

"Shit!" cursed Owen. "RUN, LARA!"

As they ran, fire was exploding all around and rocks were falling right in front of them.

"I just know that any minute, now," Owen said, "The ground is gonna give out beneath our feet!"

Sure enough, the ground crumbled underneath them, causing them both to slide down, again!

"WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!" Owen yelled as he and Lara ended up sliding into another gas-filled chamber, and they had to quickly run out and climb out of a hole in order to escape choking to death.

The next room they came into was really big, with many things handing from the ceiling; including part of a wrecked plane.

* * *

Read and review please!


	11. Chapter 10: Saving Sam

You know what?! I think I might be able to get the rest of the story up tonight!

I don't own anything from Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

* * *

 **Chapter 10: Rescuing Sam and Losing a Mentor**

Inside the plane, which was used like a makeshift prison cell, was Tommy, Jonah, Reyes and Alex!

"Lara, look up there...!" Owen whispered.

"I see them...!" Lara said.

"Keep it up, you son of a bitch," Reyes barked. "When I get outta here, I'm gonna shove one of those arrows right up your ass."

"Ooh, this one's got a temper," One of the Solarii guarding the cell mocked.

Lara shot an arrow at his head, then Owen shot two of the others with his pistol, and Lara shot the last guy with an arrow.

Seeing who'd came to their rescue, Tommy, Jonah, Reyes and Alex all cheered, happily.

"I knew you guys wouldn't let us down!" Tommy exclaimed. "What took you so long?"

"How'd you get in here?" Alex added.

"We had some help," Lara said.

"Grim?" Reyes asked, smiling.

"Yeah," Owen said. "...He didn't make it."

Everyone went silent in shock.

"Shit!" Reyes cursed.

"I didn't think anything could take that guy down," Jonah said.

"At least tell me he died fighting..." Tommy asked.

"Oh, he did!" Owen answered.

"There's a rescue helicopter on its way," Lara said. "They've got Sam somewhere else. Have you seen Whitman?"

"Guess he didn't make it to the guest rooms," Reyes answered.

"Mr. Showbiz probably weaseled an upgrade," Alex quipped.

"We'll find him, and Sam," Jonah assured them.

"Well, we're not gonna do anything up here," Tommy said, reminding them of their situation.

"We'll find a way to get you out," Owen told them

"All right," said Reyes. "Let's try to loosen this thing up."

"Okay, ready?!" Jonah asked. "Jump!"

Soon, they all began to jump at once to make the plane fall, but it didn't work.

"Hmm..." Owen hummed as he looked around and saw a gas vent. "Hey, Lara...you think...?"

"...Owen, I don't think we should risk that," Lara said.

"You got any better ideas?" asked Owen.

"...No," Lara admitted.

She pried off the wheel with her pickaxe, then moved far away and aimed a fire arrow at the leaking gas.  
"Hold on to something!"

She fired, causing an explosion that destroyed some boxes and released a hanging platform and got the plane/cell to dip.

Soon, everyone began cheering.

"You did it!" Tommy cheered, but it seemed too soon to be celebrating, for the place began to shake.

"This place is becoming unstable," said Lara. "The floor is starting to buckle."

"Don't worry about it, Lara," said Alex. "Just get us outta here!"

"You're doing great!" exclaimed Jonah.

They climbed up some scattered junk till they got on top of the cage.

Lara shot some fire arrows at some leaking gas by the other counterweight, which destroyed it.

The explosion caused the room to shake even more than it did before, and rocks were tumbling all around.

Lara gasped as she almost fell off the cage, but thankfully, Jonah managed to catch her.

"Whoa, hey!" he cried. "I gotcha, girl!"

"Thanks, Jonah!" Lara said. "That was close!"

That's when they heard an ominous creaking sound.

"Oh, shit, we got a problem," Reyes cursed. "Grab hold of something!"

Not long after, the floor fell out, and Lara was forced to hang on to the side!

"Oh, shit, we lost the cage floor!" cried Jonah.

"Man, we lost ALL the fucking floors!" Alex shouted.

"Lara, hang on tight!" Owen called.

"Trust me, I'm not even thinking about letting go!" Lara answered.

Another explosion destroyed a wall of scrap, but gave Owen an idea.

"Lara, climb up, quick!" He held his hand out for her.

She climbed up, grabbing his hand and he pulled her up. They jumped to the newly created ledge.

"We can use these," Owen pointed at two gas pipes, already trying to pry off one with his knife.

Lara got the other one with her pickaxe, "Oh, I get it!"

Once the wheels were off, they stepped back, then Lara shot a fire arrow at the leaking gas, causing an explosion that swung the cage to other side of the cave, where there was a ledge to climb onto.

The cage hit the ledge, then it fell five seconds later. Luckily, Tommy, Jonah, Reyes and Alex all made it out. There was daylight by that ledge.

"Thanks guys!" Tommy yelled.

"Holy shit, that was close!" Alex gasped.

"Lara, Owen, it looks like there's a way out on this side!" Reyes called.

"Alright, good!" Owen yelled back. "Go!"

"We're going in to get Sam and Whitman!" Lara yelled.

"Good luck!" Jonah yelled. "Be safe, you two!"

"Come on, let's move!" Reyes said, getting Tommy, Jonah and Alex to run towards the exit.

Lara and Owen jumped to another ledge, which led into another cavern, but the place was still shaking and falling apart, so ran as fast as they could.

" **We're out!** " Jonah said on the walkie-talkie. " **But this place is falling apart!** "

" **I've set up a rendezvous point back across the bridge,** " Roth said. " **The chopper's gonna be here, soon!** "

" **Lara and Owen are still looking for Sam and Whitman!** " Jonah answered.

"AGH!" Owen cried as he was almost knocked off his feet by an explosion, but he and Lara kept going. They eventually managed to make out into the Solarii's fortress, but there was fire everywhere.

Owen kicked the door down and they ran inside,  
"I think we fucked things up more than we thought!"

"Ya think!" Lara responded.

They ran through the fortress, explosions constantly erupting, but they managed to avoid them and the fires.

All the men were running to escape, so no one bothered them.

Suddenly, as they were making out, though, they heard someone screaming.  
"HELP! I DON'T WANNA DIE!"

Lara and Owen looked over the edge and they found one of the men. All he had was a rifle strapped to his back. He had brown hair that grew out to the base of his neck and a shaggy beard.

"...What do you think we should do?" Lara asked.

"...Even I can't let him die like this," said Owen before he went over to him. "Hey! Gimme your hand!"

"Y...you're one of the outsiders," said the man.

"Do you want to live or not?!" Owen questioned.

"Y-yes! Yes, I wanna live!" cried the man.

Owen grunted as he grabbed the man's hand and pulled him up.

"Now come on, run!" Owen shouted as he, the man, and Lara began to run along the roof. As they did, someone saw them.

"Levi!" shouted one of the Solarii. "What are you doing, you traitor?!"

"Screw this 'Sun Queen' crap!" Levi yelled. "I'm not risking my life for something so crazy!"

The man tried to shoot Levi, but Lara shot him in the head, first, causing him to fall down, dead.

"Keep moving!" Lara said as they began to climb up a wall, even as the windows exploded.

"We gotta get outta here!" shouted one of the Solarii.

"But the Queen! She's in the shrine!" said another.

"Leave it to burn!" shouted a third.

As they were making their way across to the other side, a man covered in fire suddenly fell over and into the gorge, below!

They climbed till they got to a ledge, then ran until they found a room with papers, maps and other things.

Lara looked at a photo of Mathias.

Owen grabbed the book on the table and saw something about the fire ritual,  
"Why's Mathias so interested in the ritual from Himiko's tomb?"

"We'll find out later," Lara grabbed a map off the wall that had a specific destination marked.

She then looked at Levi, who panted heavily.

"Do you know anything about this?" Lara asked.

"All I know is that Mathias is crazy," said Levi. "He actually believes that this 'Himiko' will let us off the island. I honestly don't believe in all this nonsense. I just wanna go home. I haven't seen my wife and kids in three years. My daughter's gotta be about 10, by now!"

Lara and Owen looked at each other, then back at Levi.

"If you come with us," Lara began, "I promise we'll get you back home to your family."

"Thank you," said Levi.

"All right, let's move," said Owen. "Hurry!"

Soon, all three of them were running back outside, where more explosions were happening. As they ran, they were suddenly being fired at.

"Keep them away from the shrine!" shouted one of the Solarii.

Lara shot arrows and Owen fired his pistol, quickly killing the few Solarii they saw.

They jumped over to the next building and looted the bodies for ammo.

Owen grabbed two of the dropped machine guns; a Type II AK-47 and an AKS-74U.

He strapped the AK-47 around his shoulders and handed the AKS to Levi,  
"Here, you'll need it."

"Thanks," Levi thanked him.

They jumped to another building and ran down a hallway filled with smoke.

Once they got further in, the smoke dissipated, and Dr. Whitman came around the corner.

Owen wanted to punch his teeth out, but knew that with the situation they were in; it wasn't the best time. He took a couple deep breaths to get his temper under control, clenching his fists so hard his nails dug into his skin.

"Lara, Owen! You're alive!" said Whitman.

"So are you," Lara said, "I mean...are you okay? What happened?"

"Once they stopped seeing me as a threat, they let me move about almost freely," said Whitman.

"Did you know that the others had been captured?" asked Owen.

"Y-yes, yes," Whitman stammered. "Sam's in there, but I couldn't free her without a weapon...Lara...Owen...these Solarii are an anthropological marvel."

"Are you fucking kidding me?!" Owen questioned. "Whitman, these people are animals!" He then looked at Levi. "No offense to you."

"None taken," Levi answered.

"We need to get our people out of here," Lara said.

"Of course, of course," Whitman said. "I-I'll keep a lookout here...you...you call me when it's safe."

Lara, Owen and Levi headed down the hall, then came to a large chamber with many red pillars with gold painted designs.

"I don't think you understand," Mathias's voice said. "You have been chosen, Samantha. This is a great honor for you; for all of us. Some were beginning to doubt we'd ever find you, but here you are."

Owen motioned for Levi to stay put, which he nodded at, then he and Lara snuck closer to see Mathias talking to Sam.

"Please," Sam pleaded. "I know you think I'm something special, but I'm not. I don't want to be chosen."

"It's not about what you want," said Mathias. "It's about what you are. Himiko runs through your veins. I think you know this, Samantha."

"You're insane, Mathias!" Sam cried. "Why are you doing this?!"

"You're searching for logic and reason where there is none," said Mathias. "I made the same mistake, once...back when I thought ships could reach us and planes wouldn't fall from the sky."

Lara and Owen both glanced at each other.

"I just wanna go home!" Sam said, only for Mathias to grab her by the throat. It took everything Lara and Owen had not to run and punch Mathias in the face.

"So do I, girl!" said Mathias. "I've waited years for this moment...I've given my life!" He then pushed Sam down to the floor, causing her to cough and gasp for breath. "Don't you think I've tried to get away from here?! From this place?! We're all trapped here...but you, Samantha...you have the power to release us."

"That sonuvabitch...!" Owen whispered, quietly.

Another man came in,  
"The fires are getting worse, and the two intruders have vanished!"

Mathias growled and prepared to leave,  
"This must be ended. Dmitri, guard her with your life."

With that, he left; leaving Dmitri to guard Sam by himself.

Lara shot him in the chest with an arrow.

"Lara! Owen!" Sam exclaimed as she ran up and hugged them both.

"Thank God you're here! I thought I was going crazy!"

"It's okay, it's okay," Lara told her.

Owen grabbed Lara's pistol and machine gun from Dmitri's corpse,  
"We gotta get outta here before he comes back."

Lara took her weapons, and they went back the way they came, where Sam got a little scared at seeing Levi.

"It's okay, he's with us now," Lara told her.

They came to the hall where Whitman was, but he was gone.

"Whitman!" Lara whispered. "Whitman!"

No answer.

"Where the hell is he?" Lara whispered.

"We can't stay here, we gotta move," Owen said.

"Don't worry," said Levi as he held his gun. "I'll cover you from behind."

Soon, the four of them hurried to get out of the shrine as fast as they could, but as they were about to round a corner, Whitman suddenly appeared...with his hands behind his back.

"Run, guys! Run!" he shouted...although it doesn't sound like he was very scared.

Mathias came from a behind him, "Get them!"

Two men ran towards them, but Owen fired his shotgun at the ceiling, making some flaming wood fall on them,  
"Back to the throne room!"

They ran back to the throne room, but Sam ran faster. She almost got crushed by more collapsing wood, but Levi dove forward and pulled her to safety. They had made it out of the throne room, but now it was blocked off and Lara and Owen were still in it.

"Keep going!" Lara told them. "We'll find another way out!"

"Take care of her Levi!" Owen called.

"You got it!" Levi responded.

"Alright, lead the way!" Sam said, then she and Levi ran off.

More Solarii came into the throne room, but Lara and Owen already had their machine guns out.

"Eat lead!" Lara shouted as she began to shoot at some of them, and Owen soon did the same.

"Come on! Come out so I can shoot your heads off!" Owen yelled as he shot one more. However, Lara cried out as she was nearly hit by a bullet, but thankfully, she ducked down in time.

"Hey, watch out! The fire's spreading!" shouted another Solarii man.

Lara killed one with her pickaxe, while Owen shot one in the head.

Two more came out, both slightly bigger than the rest. Owen quickly dispatched them with his shotgun.

"Alright, let's move!" Lara yelled, then she and Owen ran to the exit that had a spotlight set up at it.

Soon, the light shined down on them, causing them both to cover their eyes.

"These two are mine," said a man behind a gatling gun.

"Oh, shit," cursed Owen. "GET DOWN!"

Soon, the two found themselves under fire, and no matter where they took cover, the bullets ended up destroying the walls they hid behind!

"What are we going to do?!" Lara asked.

Owen rolled to the side and ran to a nearby wall to climb up. At the top was a zipline that led right to the Gatling gun.

He rode down it, kicking the guy at the gun, then tried to turn it to shoot him, but the man pushed it over the edge.

The man aimed his gun at Owen, who was lying on the ground, but he dodged it and grabbed a makeshift grenade launcher on the ground.

"Hasta luego," He muttered, then fired a grenade at him, blowing him up.

Lara ran over to him, "Next time, fill me in on your crazy plan!"

"Sorry," Owen said, then handed her the grenade launcher. "Tie that to your rifle."

Lara looked at the grenade launcher before she tied it to her rifle, then used it to blow up a gate.

"Oh, shit, she's got a grenade launcher!" cried one of the Solarii. "RUN!"

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Lara yelled. "RUN, YOU BASTARDS! I'M COMING FOR YOU ALL!"

"Fuck this shit, I'm out!" One of the men yelled, running away.

"Right behind ya!" Another followed.

"You damn cowardly traitors!" Another cursed them, before Owen shot him.

"You should follow their example," Owen said.

More tried to come after them, but when they saw Lara shoot a grenade, they turned and ran like a pack of dogs between their legs!

"That's right! You better run!" shouted Owen.

Soon, they were cleared out.

The pair climbed up through a building, then saw from a distance Levi and Sam shooting at some men.

"Sam, Levi, run!" Lara yelled to them.

She and Owen jumped from the building and moved through the village area they were now in, shooting any other Solarii they came across.

As they kept running, they were suddenly caught in yet another spotlight.

"Shit!" cursed Owen as he and Lara took cover, once more, but luckily, Lara still had some grenades left, so taking them out wasn't going to be an issue.

Until another gatling gun started shooting at them.

Again, that was no problem for Lara, who quickly made short work of him with her grenade launcher.

"Bull's eye," Owen smirked. "Have I ever told you how badass you are, Lara."

"...You could stand to mention it more," Lara smiled.

They ziplined over to the blocked village gate, where Sam peered through the boards.

"Lara, Owen!" she called. "Climb over!"

"Levi, still there?" Owen asked.

"No, but still alive," Levi joked.

"You two head for Roth, we'll follow," Lara told them. "And Sam, don't get on the helicopter."

"What?" Sam was confused.

"Trust us Sam, please," Owen asked. "You too, Levi."

Levi nodded. He may not have been part of the Solarii anymore, but he did know there was something unnatural preventing people from leaving the island.

"Now go, go!" Lara told them.

Sam gave them a pleading look before she walked away, followed by Levi.

Soon, Lara and Owen climbed up and over a wall...only to find themselves in a room full of explosives.

"...I can't help thinking they meant for us to come in here," said Owen before he looked back and saw one of the Solarii holding a flaming bottle. "I WAS RIGHT!"

"LOOK OUT!" Lara shouted as the Solarii man threw the bottle down at the barrels of explosives, which soon blew up and forced Lara and Owen to seek higher ground. As they began to climb higher and higher, the explosive barrels kept igniting, one after the other.

Once they climbed to the top, they found a zipline that they could use to escape.

The rescue helicopter appeared in the distance, looking like it was trying to find a place to land.

"Oh crap!" Owen cursed. "We've gotta stop them from getting on the chopper!"

Soon, they landed on a bridge, but Lara ended up landing on her old wound, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Lara! Get up!" Owen cried as he went to help her. As he looked back, though, he saw Mathias and two other Solarii.

"DESTROY THE BRIDGES!" Mathias ordered.

"But we'll kill our own people!" answered one of the Solarii, causing Mathias to grab the other man's gun and shoot him in the head!

"ANY OTHER NON-BELIEVERS?!" he questioned.

Unknown to Mathias, Levi happened to see that from a distance.

"...Now he's gone too far," he whispered as he hurried to get Sam to safety.

Owen got Lara up, then they ran as fast as they could to get to the other side of the bridge.

The bridge started falling apart as they ran, with some Solarii chasing after them.

The section they were on got destroyed, but they managed to jump and grab onto the rest that wasn't destroyed.

One Solarii had grabbed a hold of Lara, and he was on fire. Owen stabbed the guy in the head with his knife, making him fall.

They tried to make it to the other side as the bridge kept crumbling, but they ended up falling through a hole in the bridge and slid down until they ended up in yet another room, where they got a closer view of the helicopter.

" **We're taking fire!** " Roth shouted on the walkie-talkie. " **Everyone get to higher ground!** "

"No, wait!" Lara cried. "The storms! It's too dangerous!"

No response.

"Roth?!" Lara questioned. "Dammit! Owen, we have to stop them!"

"Come on!" Owen yelled, as they started climbing again.

The building they were in was on fire, and falling apart.

After some close calls with things constantly falling apart around them, they made it to the roof.

Lara got out the radio again,  
"Roth?" No response. "Roth, where are you?!"

The helicopter appeared right in front of them, with Roth on board,  
"I'm here, girl!"

The roof collapsed, making Lara and Owen fall, but there was floor directly below them to break their fall. They quickly got up and ran towards the helicopter.

"Jump!" Roth yelled.

They both jumped, and the building exploded behind them. The helicopter tilted to the side so it could catch them.

Lara almost slipped, but thankfully, Roth managed to pull her aboard. Lara sobbed in his arms, relieved that he was all right. However, she soon pulled away, remembering why she came.

"Roth!" she shouted. "We have to land!"

"She's right!" Owen agreed. "We gotta get off the helicopter!"

Roth looked down and saw Sam, Tommy, Reyes, Alex, Jonah, and Levi trying to fight off some of the Solarii while Sam was waving to them.

"We can't leave them behind!" Roth said.

"Hey, buddy!" Owen said to the pilot. "We gotta land!"

"No way!" the pilot answered. "Not in this weather!"

"You don't understand!" said Lara. "We can't leave them behind!"

"I barely got here in one piece!" shouted the pilot.

"Dude, those are our friends down there!" shouted Owen. "One of us already died on this damned island!"

"Nothing doing!" shouted the pilot...and that's when Lara snapped. She grabbed Roth's gun out of its holster and pointed it at the pilot!

"Lara, no!" Owen shouted. "What are you doing?!"

"Do it!" Lara ordered, cocking back the hammer. "NOW!"

"Fuck, you're crazy!" The pilot shouted, then started to turn the chopper around.

But he made the mistake of continuing to ascend, so a lightning bolt struck the tail rudder.

"Shit!" Owen cursed. "EVERYONE, HANG ON!"

Soon, the helicopter crashed and went into flames, scattering Roth, Lara, and Owen on the ground...and killing the pilot. Roth was momentarily trapped underneath the helicopter's tail, but he managed to push it off. However, he found Owen and Lara lying across from him.

"Lara, Owen!" He called, but they didn't respond, or move.

Roth had to crawl over to them, since crash-landing had hurt his damaged again.

He rolled them over to check them, and Owen groaned in pain and coughed for air,  
*cough* "Anyone...*cough-cough-cough* anyone get the number on that bus...?"

Roth smiled a bit then checked Lara, but she wasn't responding,  
"Lara? LARA?!"

He quickly began to perform CPR on her.

After a moment, she finally started breathing again.

"Ugh..." she groaned as she sat up. "W...where's...Owen?"

"Urrgh..." Owen groaned, too, as he also sat up. "I'm okay...I think."

Lara hugged him, with as much strength as she had at the moment. Then she saw over his shoulder, Mathias and more of his men were coming,  
"It's them!"

Still holding her, Owen turned around, pulled out his pistol and shot two of the guys, but then his gun clicked when he tried to shoot Mathias.

Mathias threw a hatchet at them, but he turned them around so he would take it in his back...but the pain never came.

He and Lara looked to see Roth had stepped in front of them, taking the hatchet in the back himself.

"NOOO!" Lara screamed.

"ROTH!" Owen yelled.

Roth pulled out his pistols and shot more of the Solarii that came, but he eventually lost his strength and fell to his knees, and there were still some men left.

It seemed like this was the end for Lara and Owen...until...

 **ARRRROOOOOOOO!**

"Tsume!" Owen exclaimed, and sure enough, the Solarii found themselves surrounded by wolves, led by Tsume, who growled viciously at them.

"Wolves?!" One of the Solarii questioned, then tried to one away before he was mauled to death by one of the wolves.

All the men only had arrows, so they didn't have enough time to arm themselves before the wolves mauled them.

Unfortunately, Mathias was not among the dead.

"Dammit, psychopath must've gotten away," Owen cursed, but smiled at Tsume. "Thanks buddy."

"Yeah, thanks Tsume," Lara told him.

Before Tsume could respond, he looked at Roth and whimpered.

"Roth!" Lara exclaimed as she ran to his side, as did Owen.

"Roth, hang on! Please!" Owen cried.

"I...I can't...it's too late," Roth coughed.

"...Roth...no, please, don't die...!" Lara said, sounding close to tears. "I...I can't do this without you!"

"I'm sorry Lara," Roth whispered, "but...you CAN do this..." He then smiled at her, weakly, yet proudly. "You're...a Croft..."

Then, he sighed as he fell limp, causing Owen to grab his hand...only to shake his head.

"...He's gone," he said, causing Lara to sob before she hugged Owen, who hugged her back. "I'm sorry, Lara...I'm gonna miss the old man, too. May he and Grim rest in peace."

Tsume soon sat down and howled toward the skies, and the other wolves soon followed.

Owen and Lara just sat there, holding each other for who knows how long.

Eventually, Tommy, Sam, Jonah, Levi, Reyes and Alex found them.

Reyes ran over and knelt down on Roth's body,  
"No...no!"

Tommy ran over and embraced Owen in a brotherly hug,  
"I'm sorry, man."

Sam went over to Lara,  
"Are you okay, Lara?"

"Is she okay?" Reyes asked angrily. "Because it's all about Lara, isn't it?! Have you forgotten that she's the reason we're here?!"

"REYES!" Owen snapped, which surprised everyone. "SAY THAT AGAIN, AND I SWEAR TO GOD-!"

"Easy man, easy!" Tommy interrupted, trying to calm him down. But he had to agree with him, so he glared at Reyes,  
"But he's right, Reyes. That's not fair! This WHOLE shit-storm is NO ONE'S fault!"

Everyone looked at her, in disappointment.

"You're right... I shouldn't have said that," Reyes admitted. "I'm sorry... It's just... Roth... I don't know what we're gonna do without him."

"Let's just find someplace safe and make preparations," Jonah said, placing his hand on Reyes's shoulder. "He died as a warrior... we'll send him off as one."

Alex nodded in agreement.

* * *

RIP Roth...

Read and review, please.


	12. Chapter 11: Tsume's Family

Okay, I might not finish tonight.

I don't own anything from Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

* * *

 **Chapter 11: Tsume's Family and the Beach**

Soon, the group gathered some wood and made a fire, then put Roth's body in it, watching him burn away. Tsume even sat with them.

"I'm...I'm sorry," said Levi. "Truly, I am."

"You didn't kill him, Levi," said Lara. "We're not mad at you."

That's when Reyes pulled out that photo of her and her daughter, then looked up.

"...That old PT boat on the beach," she said, "I should be able to fix it."

"...It's worth a shot," said Jonah.

"It doesn't matter," Lara spoke up. "We're not getting off this island."

"...Come on, Lara, don't talk like that," Alex said.

"She's not talking negatively," said Owen. "That storm that struck the plane, earlier...it wasn't natural."

"I've been here for years," Levi said. "Every time a plane, boat, or some other form of transportation got close to this place, it was destroyed."

"Something won't let us leave," Lara said.

"Some "thing"? Lara, you need sleep," Reyes scoffed.

"Look, I'll be the first to admit that I usually go for the weird stuff," Alex said. "But this place is off the charts."

"I'm not dying here!" Reyes barked. "We're fixing that boat and we're leaving!" Then she walked way.

"If you do that, you WILL die!" Owen yelled. "You may not want to believe it, Reyes, but it's true!"

"Hey, hey, let's not fight," said Tommy as he got in between them. "Look, Reyes, I know you're upset about Roth and all, but I gotta go with what Owen and Lara. Something about this place isn't right."

"...You know what I think?" asked Reyes. "I think you're all making up a bunch of fucking excuses!"

"It's NOT an excuse!" Owen shouted. "Dammit, Reyes, look around! Does any of this seem natural to you?! Didn't you hear that voice in the sky, saying 'No one leaves' in Japanese?!"

"You and Lara were hearing things!" Reyes shouted. "You know what? Screw this. I'm going to that boat, and you can't stop me!"

On that, she stormed off.

Tommy threw up his hands in defeat, "Stubborn bitch..."

"Well the rest of you know this island isn't right," Lara said.

"All I know is that we can't use logic to understand this place," Jonah said. "I know you think your instincts are a weakness, but they're a strength. Use them. We need you, Lara."

"The big man's right," Alex said.

"I can't leave him yet," Lara said. "I need time..."

Jonah and Alex nodded and walked off.

"We'll try to calm Reyes down and get her to wait," Tommy said.

"I'll stay with Lara," Owen told them.

"Oh, don't worry, we figured that," Jonah said.

Levi followed them.

As they left, Owen went over and put a hand on Lara's shoulder, causing her to look up at him.

"...I never thought I'd see the day that he'd die," Lara whispered.

"Me, neither," said Owen, "but...he was a tough old bastard...right to the very end."

"You know where we'll be," Sam told them. "Come down when you're ready, we won't go anywhere without you."

She hugged Lara and Owen, then Lara handed her one of Roth's Remington 1911's that she'd kept,  
"Keep this close."

Sam took it, then left.

"Still got the other one?" Owen asked.

Lara patted her side where the other Remington was, then sat down. Owen followed suit.

Even Tsume curled up next to them, causing Owen to pet him.

"...Roth..." Lara whispered as she leaned against Owen's shoulder. "What am I going to do without him?"

"...It's okay, Lara," said Owen. "It's just like Roth said...you've got great instincts. You just gotta know how to use them."

Lara's eyes went wide as her train of thought raced and the thunder boomed over their heads.

"No one leaves...the storms..." she whispered. "They're linked to the power of the Sun Queen!"

She pulled out the map she'd taken from Mathias's room,

"The monastery has a ritual chamber. If that's what the Stormguard are protecting, the answer to stopping the storms must be in there."

Owen looked at it too,  
"There's a hidden river entrance... we can use the boat to go inland to the ritual chamber."

Lara put the map away and got out her radio,  
"Jonah? Reyes? (No response, just static) Tommy? Sam? (Static) Dammit, we should've gone with them."

"Let's hurry and follow after them," said Owen before he, Lara, and Tsume began to make their way through the marsh. As they ran, they began to hear voices up ahead...and they soon realized it was the Solarii.

"Oh, no..." Lara whispered as he and Owen got down.

"You see anything?" asked one of them.

"No, it's too fucking dark down here," said another.

As they were talking, Lara readied her bow, preparing to shoot.

Tsume ran off before Lara shot one of the guys in the head.

The rest were quickly dispatched by Tsume and his pack.

With the way through the forest clear, Lara and Owen made their way through it, stopping at an old hunting lodge.

There was a journal inside the lodge,

" _Stormguard warriors, today we stand on the brink of a great change. The enemy fleet that sails to our shores will be the last to ever attempt to reach our beloved Yamatai. The rage of our great Sun Queen will raise up a mighty storm and we will ride forth upon the winds to destroy them._

 _But when we emerge victorious, we will not stop. A new day will dawn as our Queen's light will reach across the ocean to touch all lands. While we of Yamatai bask in the warmth of her grace, those who oppose us will burn._ "

"Lovely," Owen said sarcastically.

"So the people of Yamatai were conquerors in the past," said Lara. "The question is...why did they stop?"

Suddenly, Tsume growled, smelling more of the enemy up ahead. Not long after, they heard several gunshots being fired, along with the sound of wolves yowling in pain.

"Crap!" cursed Owen as he and Lara ran and saw some of the Solarii tried to shoot the wolves away. Luckily, Lara shot the one with the gatling gun with an arrow before he could kill any more wolves.

Tsume whimpered at the loss of his brothers and/or sisters.

"Sorry pal," Owen petted him.

Tsume smelled something and ran towards a cave entrance, beckoning Lara and Owen to follow him.

Once inside, they found several cages...and inside was a wolf...who looked very pitiful and sad.

"...My god," Owen whispered.

Tsume approached the other wolf, who whined as if excited to see him. When Lara and Owen got a closer look, they soon saw why: this wolf had pups nursing from her.

"She's his mate," Lara said.

"And those must be his pups," said Owen. "The Solarii must've locked them all up in here and Tsume's been looking for them, since."

"And these pups look like they had just been born about a few days ago," Lara said. "Their eyes are opened."

There were other wolves inside the other cages.

Owen and Lara opened the cages to let the wolves out.

They were soon thanked by getting licked all over, causing them both to laugh. Then Lara looked to Tsume's mate, who had these beautiful blue eyes.

"Well, aren't you beautiful?" asked Lara as she reached in and pet her head, which she allowed.

"Hmm, I'd call her "Blue", but she was with Hige," Owen said. "I'll go with "Hana"."

"Nose or flower," said Lara. "It suits her."

"You know, since she's nursing the pups, she can't really leave this place, can she?" asked Owen.

Tsume turned to several of his wolves, then barked out to them, causing some of them to go up to Hana and pick up her pups by the scruffs of their necks. Hana then jumped out of her cage and followed the other wolves.

"Hey Tsume, does this cave lead back to that village where you saved our friend Roth from that traitor," Lara asked.

Seeming to understand, Tsume lead them further into the cave.

"Looks like he knows what to do," said Owen. "Let's go, Lara."

"Right," Lara agreed.

Hana and the other wolves followed after them.

Turned out Lara was right; Tsume eventually lead them to a cave exit that brought them above the shanty village where Grim had sacrificed himself.

" **You there, guys?** " Alex's voice came from the radio.

Lara grabbed it, "Alex! We've been trying to reach you all morning."

" **We just got to the beach,** " Alex said. " **Boat's in pretty bad shape. Without the right tools, we might have trouble getting it up and running. We could sure use your help down here.** "

"See what you can do," Owen said. "We're on our way."

" **Watch yourselves out there,** " Alex told them.

Soon, Lara and Owen (who was carrying Tsume in his legs), ziplined down the rope to get to another building on the other side, then began to shimmy across another ropeway to another tower with a gondola system. They jumped once one of the crates was close enough and then began to make their way down until they were surrounded in nothing but mist.

" **Lara, are you there?** " Sam asked on the walkie-talkie. " **Alex said you and Owen are on your way down.** "

"Yes, we're on our way," Lara answered. "We should be there soon."

"We need to tell you something," Owen added.

" **What's going on?** " Sam asked, worriedly.

"I don't think we can leave this island... something is keeping us here," Lara said. "I have to go back to the monastery."

" **Are you sure?** " Sam asked.

"Yes, Sam," Lara said. "I need you to keep this to yourself, for now...Owen and I are going to help Reyes fix the boat, but then we're taking it inland."

" **Lara...I don't know about this,** " said Sam.

"Just trust us, Sam," said Owen. "It's the only way."

" **All right,** " said Sam. " **You two be careful.** "

Soon, the three of them broke the mist and found themselves still in the shanty town...but then, out of nowhere, the gondola stopped.

"You've got to be kidding me," Lara said in irritation.

Luckily, there was a tower right next to them that they could zipline to.

Then, they climbed up a ladder to get to the top. Unfortunately, Owen couldn't carry Tsume and climb at the same time, so he had to leave him behind.

As they reached the top, Lara looked around, suspiciously.

"It's too quiet," she said.

"You're right," Owen agreed. "What's going on?"

Hearing Tsume whimper, Lara got out a rope and handed it to Owen. She climbed back down the ladder and picked Tsume up, then Owen lowered the rope. Lara grabbed onto it and Owen pulled her and Tsume up.

Then they ziplined to a what was left of a wrecked ship, when suddenly...

"Hey! They're here!"

"Go, go! Use the lines!"

More Solarii appeared.

Soon, the shootout began. Lara and Owen used their firearms to shoot any Solarii that weren't taking cover, and Tsume was sent to dispatch any that were in hiding. However, he had to be called when more came to fight, and he had to avoid getting blown up when Lara managed to shoot an explosive barrel.

It got really bad when they started throwing dynamite, forcing them out of hiding. Lara was tempted to use the grenade launcher, but with Tsume darting back and forth between taking cover and taking out any of the Solarii, she couldn't risk killing him, too.

On one of the towers, one of the Solarii mounted a gatling gun.

"Shit!" Owen cursed and looked over the railing. There was a cliff not that far across from them, but only Tsume would be able to jump to it.

Speaking of; Hana, their pups and the rest of the pack had just arrived at the cliff.

"Tsume! You gotta go!" Owen told him. "Your family's over there! Don't worry about us, we'll be okay!"

Tsume looked at him for a minute, then ran towards one of the railing that had been knocked off and jumped.

He just made it and clung to the edge, but one of the wolves helped pull him up.

Then, Tsume glanced back at Owen and Lara, who waved to him.

"Don't worry about us!" Owen called. "We'll be okay!"

A pause...but then Tsume and his pack ran off.

"At least they're safe," Owen sighed in relief.

The man at the gatling gun fired at the ship, causing the support ropes holding it up to break, and it tilted to the side.

Lara and Owen almost fell off, but their backs hit one of the railings. Another Solarii fell on it, making it collapse before he fell to his death, but the railing was still hanging from the ship.

Lara and Owen clung to it, then started climbing.

"Go faster!" Owen said.

"I'm trying!" Lara cried, but suddenly, the whole thing started falling apart the more the man kept shooting at them. Eventually, they ended up falling down, ziplining on several ropeways before they jumped off, shooting any barricades before they fell down toward a river, which they end up sliding down before they ended up going over a waterfall and landing in the basin below.

Luckily for them, they had reached a dock.

"Something tells me the others found an easier way down," Lara said.

Owen laughed, "See, you can make jokes at a time like this!"

They got out of the water and saw they'd made it to the beach, filled with wrecked ships.

"Shipwreck Beach, instead of Shipwreck Cove from Pirates of the Caribbean," Owen surmised.

"But where are the others," Lara said as she looked around, but as she did, her stomach started growling. "Ugh...I'm starving."

Owen looked around and found a large boar, roaming about the grounds.

"...You in the mood for some pork?" he asked.

"Sure," Lara smiled.

A while later, Lara and Owen were sitting at a campfire, eating some boar meat.

"Mmm..." Owen hummed. "It's no Thanksgiving ham, but it'll do."

Lara chuckled at that...but then she sighed, sadly.

"...You're still thinking about Roth, huh?" Owen asked.

"Yes," Lara said. " 'Tears won't bring me back, girl', is what he would've said to me. I just can't believe he's gone."

"If he hadn't taken the hit, I'd be dead right now," Owen said.

"Don't talk like that," Lara said. "It's bad enough Roth's the one we lost. I don't know if I could keep living if I lost you."

"...Well, now you know I feel about you," said Owen.

"...We need to get off this island," Lara said, "But we can't until we figure out how to stop Himiko's powers."

In the distance, they heard the boat engine attempt to start up, but didn't.

"Sounds like they're having trouble," Owen said. "We'd better go lend a hand."

Lara nodded before they headed to the boat, where they saw Reyes trying to work on the motor with Jonah, Tommy, and Sam's help. However, Alex was nowhere to be found.

"Sam!" Lara called. "We're here!"

"Lara!" exclaimed Sam as she went up and hugged Lara while Tommy went and gave Owen a fist bump.

"Hey man! Where're your wolf buddies?"

"They're somewhere else, but they're safe," Owen said. "Where's Alex?"

"Heading over to the Endurance to grab some tools for Reyes," Jonah said. "Levi's over there; poor guy collapsed the minute we got here."

Levi was one the ground leaning against the building, fast asleep.

"I can't blame him," Lara said.

"...I can't believe he's not really one of them," said Sam. "He told us about how he got stuck here, about three years ago. He has a wife named Catherine and two kids: a daughter named Tanya and a son named Levi Jr. He used to be a college professor and he was actually had a major in the arts."

"Impressive," said Owen.

"He sure is faithful," said Sam. "He believes his wife is still waiting for him. He says she's most the loyal, devoted person he's ever known."

"Sounds like someone I know," said Owen as he looked at Lara, who smiled at him.

"Jonah," Reyes said. "Give the hoist a try."

Jonah nodded as he went to try the hoist.

Lara and Owen right behind him.

Even with so many people pulling, the hoist didn't work.

"We'll be able to lift it more smoothly with some kind of block and tackle," Lara said.

"You're right," Jonah agreed. "I should be able to fashion one from some pulleys."

"There might be some on that rigging we can use," Lara said. "I'll check it out."

"Be careful, Lara," Sam said.

"Want me to come too?" Owen asked.

"It's okay, I think I can handle this trip myself," Lara told him.

"...Call me if you need me," said Owen.

"I will," Lara said before she headed off on her own.

"...She's got this," Tommy said as he nudged Owen, who smiled.

* * *

Read and review, please!


	13. Chapter 12: Return to The Endurance

I'm definitely uploading the rest of the story today!

I don't own Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

No flames!

* * *

 **Chapter 12: Return to The Endurance**

Lara ran over to a nearby crane tower, climbed up it and rode a zipline that took her to the old rigging.

"Amazing," she awed. "Portuguese... looks to be early 18th century."

As she climbed up a rock and entered the boat through a hole in the hull, she heard voices up ahead.

"Who the fuck are they? They got guns."

"I don't know! Just lemme think!"

Lara gasped before she took cover, then took a peek around the corner to see two men.

She shot the two guys with arrows, then climbed up what was left of the bow.

"There it is," Lara saw an old pulley holding up the anchor.

She shot an arrow to cut it down, making the anchor fall into the ocean and the mast it was hanging from collapse.

Once Lara got the block and tackle she needed, she began to make her way back to Jonah and the others. However, she soon noticed three more Solarii nearby.

"Man, this shit's falling apart," said one of them. "Let's get the fuck outta here."

"Hold it," said another. "It might be them...and...I think I see Levi down there. Are they holding him hostage?"

"I heard he left of his own free will," said the third. "Father Mathias said to kill him once we see him...he's a traitor."

"...You don't really think that, do you?" asked one of them.

"Look, I'm just following orders, okay?!" the third one yelled. "If you guys wanna have Father Mathias shoot you in the face, be my guest!"

Lara quickly shot them with arrows, then sighed,  
"This is like that Kingdom Hearts video game Owen showed me. Instead of Heartless showing up all the time, it's Solarii."

Then she checked a busted cabin, where there was on old chest. Inside was a brown jade ink box.

"This was used by scribes of the Chinese royal court," she then turned it over to look at the back. "A small engraving indicates that this was the possession of an Imperial ambassador."

She pocketed the ink box, looted the dead bodies for ammo, then rode a zipline from the ship back to the beach.

There, she found Jonah, waiting at the shore...for some reason, though, he looked a bit worried.

"What's wrong?" Lara asked.

"Alex should've been back by now," Jonah answered, but not long after he said this, gunshots suddenly went off in the distance.

"HELP! HEEEEEEEEELP!" a voice cried.

"It's Dr. Whitman!" Jonah said as he ran to go help...and both Lara and Owen seemed a bit reluctant to follow, but they followed, nonetheless. Soon, Whitman appeared, firing off rounds behind him.

Jonah and Tommy aimed their guns in the distance, while Lara and Owen looked at Whitman suspiciously.

Even Levi was skeptical.

"How many are there?" Reyes asked, her weapon out.

"I don't know..." Whitman said.

"Are you hurt?" Sam asked, helping him stand.

"I couldn't see anyone," Jonah said.

"I must've scared them off," Whitman said. "Feel like I've run for miles."

"And yet you've barely broken a sweat," Lara pointed out.

"And you're not even panting," Levi added.

"Must be fitter than I thought," Whitman lamely tried to make an excuse.

"You could've led them right to us," Lara said. "Like you did back at the palace."

"What?" Reyes questioned.

"That's not how it was, Lara," Whitman tried to explain. "Th-they... they caught me while you were getting Sam."

"What the hell's this about?" Reyes questioned.

Tommy lowered his weapon, "You know what, I don't buy it. I've got great hawk vision; no one's coming for miles."

"Are you calling me a liar?" Whitman barked.

"You damn right!" Tommy said.

Owen walked over to them, "You know, there was something I wanted to say to you when we saw you back at the palace."

"What's that?" Whitman asked.

Owen threw a right hook at Whitman face, breaking his nose and knocking him to the ground.

He them went to kick him, but Jonah and Reyes ran over to hold him back.

"Ugh..." Whitman groaned as he held his face.

"Owen, take it easy!" Reyes shouted.

"I WILL NOT TAKE IT EASY!" shouted Owen. "THIS BASTARD HAD IT COMING!"

"Hey man, what's this really about?" Tommy asked. "I agree he had that coming, but this seems to be more personal."

"Oh it is!" Owen said. "When you found us in that forest when Lara got caught in that bear trap, after Whitman went with me and her, we got ambushed. Whitman surrendered, I got knocked out, Lara got captured and...!"

"And what?" Reyes asked, looking at Lara, who was looking away in shame.

"I heard about it when Mathias had me held captive and they came to save me," Sam said. "The leader of the ambush, Vladimir...he... he raped Lara..."

Everyone's jaws dropped before they all glared at Whitman, who looked up at them in shock.

"I...I didn't-" he started.

"Save it, you sonuvabitch," Reyes said before she went up and hugged Lara, even though she didn't return it.

"I'm so sorry, Lara," Reyes said. "I...I didn't realize what you went through."

"...It was...it was awful," Lara whispered. "He...he made me undress and then he..." She then sniffled as she tried to keep herself from crying.

Jonah let Owen go.

"Did he...? Tommy almost asked.

"No," Owen said, knowing what he was gonna ask. "I found them before it happened, but I heard him yell that he was gonna do it! I grabbed him, pulled him off her, shot his dick off and turned his face into minced-meat with my bare hands!"

"...My god..." Levi whispered in horror.

"Look, I'm not the one who-" said Whitman.

"It doesn't matter," said Jonah. "If you hadn't betrayed them like you did, it wouldn't have happened in the first place."

"You're a monster, Whitman," said Sam.

"I'm going after Alex," Lara said, wiping away her tears. "Where were the tools?"

"The engine room," Reyes answered. "Look, he can take care of himself, Lara."

"Good, then we'll be back soon," Lara said.

Tommy glared at Whitman, "You find a lonely corner, and sit there. Just stay away from us."

Whitman didn't respond.

Jonah ran after Lara, "Hey Lara, wait." She stopped, then he handed her a silver bow with a target scope. "Take this bow, I've been saving it for you ever since I found it. It's powerful, and can shoot an arrow into almost anything."

"Thanks, Jonah," Lara said before she took the bow.

"The Endurance is shipwrecked on a beach on the other side of those cliffs," said Jonah as he pointed to the cliffs. "Perhaps you can use that new bow to make your way over there. Maybe on those rocks across from the dock."

"Any sign of those scavengers?" asked Lara.

"Nothing...it's quiet," Jonah said. "If they're out there, I don't know what they're waiting for."

"IF they're out there," Lara said before she left.

With her new bow, she was able to shoot a rope arrow at a rock wall.

Once she made it the other side, she heard something that made her heart jump.

" **Okay, Reyes, I'm getting closer to the Endurance,** " said Alex via radio. " **What do you need, exactly?** "

 **"Alex!** " Reyes exclaimed. " **We were getting worried. Listen, I need a breaker bar and the rest of my kit. I can't fix the boat without them.** "

" **Alright, I'm on it,** " said Alex.

 **"Lara's on her way,** " said Reyes. " **You should wait for her.** "

" **Lara?** " Alex asked. " **No, no, I got this. I'm heading in. Going radio silent.** "

On that, Alex turned his walkie-talkie off.

"Alex...what are you doing?" asked Lara, worriedly.

She jumped through the ruins, killing any more Solarii she ran into, as she made her way to the Endurance.

She killed some more Solarii and went inside a door in the mountain.

Inside was another chest, carrying a Stained Jade Head Rest.

'Was this actually used as a head rest, or was it part of a larger statuary set?' Lara thought. 'I'll research it after I get out of this place.'

She put the head rest in her pocket and left, then continued her way to the Endurance.

Lara became very nervous, now. Who knows what could have happened to Alex when he got here. Maybe the Solarii got to him first before she did.

She really hoped that wasn't the case.

She fired a rope arrow at a rock wall, ziplined over to it, and climbed into a wrecked bunker.

Once inside, she could hear some of the Solarii talking about some kind of a generator.

"All right, that should do it," said one of them. "Try it now!"

"This is a waste of time," said the other. "How many fucking generators is this?!"

While he was busy, Lara snuck up behind one and killed him with her pickaxe.

She then shot a barrel of fuel, causing it to explode and kill two more men.

"We need help down here!" shouted some. "We got an intruder!"

Soon, Lara was darting about the place, dodging bullets and machetes as she took out the men, one-by-one.

Once she was finished, she looted the bodies for any ammo, then started looking for a way out.

While looking, she found another journal...

" _Our coastal base has been attacked by unknown assailants. We suspect the Americans have arrived and are attempting to sabotage our operations. Communications have been disrupted across the island and we've sustained heavy losses. Many of our soldiers have simply disappeared._

 _All remaining personnel are proceeding to the ancient monastery to ensure control of the weather phenomenon. We expect to meet heavy resistance en-route. Request reinforcement as soon as possible._ "

"They headed inland, to the monastery," said Lara, "but I don't think they succeeded in their mission."

She pocketed the journal and went to the next room.

There were some more Solarii at the top of the steps, and they rolled a barrel of oil down it and fired, blowing it up.

Lara managed to duck for cover before it exploded.

She then shot them with her bow, but then there came one man with extra thick padding, even around his face. Lara gasped as she tried to shoot him, but he ended up getting too close for her bow to shoot him, so he had to shoot him in the face with her pistol.

She headed up the steps, then some shooting came from behind her.

"Ugh, I'm bloody sick of this!" Lara lamented.

"Over there!"

"She's on the second floor!"

Growing tired and irritated with being fired at, Lara shot a grenade at her foes, who screamed and tried to run, but it was too late to escape, for the grenade blew up, taking their lives.

She then climbed to the top of the bunker through a hole in the roof.

She found an old army car port, and inside was an old chest.

Inside the chest was a Japanese 2 Sen Coin.

'The date reads Meiji 6, which is 1873!' she turned it to check the other side. 'One side is worn down. Maybe this was a soldier's good luck coin?'

Not long after, she found another journal...this one written by Alex.

" _Lara is totally right. Something seriously fucked up is going on here. The "natural" phenomenon that causes the weather to go apesh it, the military research base, some kinda Sun Queen and a crazy cult? If I didn't know better, I'd say this was a big put -on. Are there TV cameras hidden in the trees?_

 _But you know, I gotta admit, it's scaring the shit out of me. I keep cracking jokes to cover it up, Reyes looks ready to kick my ass. I think I need to do something useful before I completely lose it._

 _I wish I could be more like Lara... she just blows me away. Not only is she brilliant, she's also an amazing ass kicker. And if she didn't notice me before, she sure as hell won't now. But maybe I can still do something to get her attention._ "

Lara gasped silently.

'Does Alex... like me?' she thought. 'But, I'm happy with Owen. Alex; I've always noticed you. Not like that, but still. ...What were you thinking?! This place is unforgiving. And the price of surviving is just too high.'

She pocketed the journal, shot a rope arrow to a rock wall on a small mountain, ziplined to it, then ziplined all the way to the wrecked Endurance.

However, she gasped when she saw many of the Solarii already on board before she went to hide. If they were here...then what happened to Alex?

She shot two of them with arrows, and faced a big guy with her grenade launcher.

"What are you, a little rat?!" he mocked.

"I'll show you what this little rat can do!" Lara shouted.

Since he wore armor, there was only one weak spot: his face...and Lara aimed for that. With every shot she made with her rifle, the man kept coming up swinging punches at her, but she kept dodging, left and right.

If he was a bear, then she was a swift fox.

Once his armor was gone, she tore his face up with her pick-axe.

"Die, you son of a bitch!" Lara shouted.

Once the guy hit the floor, she took a new gadget from his belt: a rope ascender.

She then noticed a crane, holding several heavy metal crates on its hook. Using her bow, she shot an arrow and then used the rope ascender to pull it over to the side. Soon, the crates fell, leaving a large hole in the deck, which Lara jumped into.

"Back in here, again," she said as she went to look for Alex.

She ran down the hallway, but stopped when she heard a bang.

When nothing else happened, she noticed her room on the left.

She went inside, where she found a couple of photos in her locker, such as her and Owen on their first date and then another one of her, Sam, Owen, and Tommy at graduation. That one was taken by Roth. She took both pictures and looked at them before putting them in her pocket.

They were all smiling and happy...as if they felt that nothing bad would ever happen to them...but then Lara closed the locker and saw her reflection in the mirror. Her face and clothes were covered in dirt and dried blood...she looked exhausted...her eyes lacked that brightness that she had in the photo.

Basically...Lara looked like she had been through hell.

She stared at her reflection in disbelief, and turned away.

She then took a deep breath, "So much has happened."

Lara then turned to leave in search of Alex. Hopefully, he wasn't too far, since she knew this ship like the back of her hand.

"Alex!" she called out as she walked through a corridor. "Alex, are you there?"

"Lara!" Alex's voice called. "I'm down here!"

She ran down the corridor to where his voice was coming from.

"Come on... come on. Ah, goddamn it! Ow! Fuck!"

She ran into the engine room, which was flooded with water, and found Alex on the other side...trapped under some wreckage!

"Alex!" Lara cried as she ran to go and help him.

But there was a fallen electric wire blocking the doorway, and the power was still running.

"Lara!" Alex called. "What are you doing here?"

"What's going on?" Lara asked. "Are you alright?"

"I'm pinned down in here... doesn't look good," Alex said.

"Don't worry, I'm going to get you out of there!" Lara told him.

"Check the ceiling," Alex told her. "There should be an access hatch to the crawlspace."

It took some doing, but Lara managed to pull around a hoist with her rope ascender and climb up a ladder leading up into the crawlspace Alex mentioned.

"Lara," Alex called as Lara began to make her way toward him. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this mess. I don't know what I was thinking, coming down here. I thought I could be the star in my own god damned action movie. Guess it doesn't always work out that way."

She kicked a pipe away that was blocking the hoist's path, jumped down, then used the hoist to pull the wire out of the way.

She ran inside and knelt in front of Alex, who held up a wrench.

"You got the tools..."

"Finally, I impress you," Alex joked, making them both laugh.

"Let's get you out of here," Lara went to move the debris off his leg, but he shouted in pain. "Oh, sorry, sorry. ...Alex? I...I didn't know that you...well..."

"...You saw, huh?" Alex asked. "Man, I'm pathetic, right? Trying to impress a girl who's already spoken for...but hey, that's a day in the life of Alex."

"You're not pathetic," said Lara. "I never thought you were."

"Thanks...even if you don't mean it," said Alex.

"I do mean it!" Lara said. "Alex...I'm sorry...at least you were honest about it, right? And I doubt Owen would get angry."

"Thanks," Alex said, smiling.

"We got her!" More Solarii showed up on the walkway behind them, and fired at them.

Alex shot the leaking gas pipe behind the men, making it explode, but that explosion was gonna spread to the rest of the ship!

"What are you doing?!" Lara exclaimed. "You'll kill us!"

Alex looked sad, but determined. "I'm not gonna make it out of here, Lara. Take the tools."

"Not without you," Lara pleaded.

"How often does a guy like me get to be a hero?" Alex stated.

She hid behind the cover they had.

"The others are counting on us!" Alex said, pushing the tools against her shoulder. "Go!"

Lara shook her head.

"Now!" Alex urged.

Giving in, Lara took the tools, then gave Alex a kiss on the cheek.

She ran for the exit, then Alex aimed his gun at the Solarii on the walkway across from him.

Once Lara was out, she closed the door behind her...while Alex aimed his gun and fired at the gas pipe, causing a huge explosion, which Lara heard from the outside.

"Alex...!" she called...but then, another explosion shook the ship, forcing her to run away. Using the rope ascender, she managed to make it to the other side...just as the other half of the Endurance sank with Alex and some of the Solarii inside.

She looked back at the sinking half of the ship, shedding a few tears for her friend.

"I'm not going to let anyone else die," She said, determined.

With that, she began to head back to the others. As she got back to dry land, she was suddenly greeted by Tsume.

"...Hello, again, Tsume," said Lara, greeting him with a small smile. "Glad to see you're all right."

Tsume approached Lara, whining in concern as he nudged her hand with his nose, causing her to pet him.

"...It's all right," she said. "Everything will be okay. Listen...I need to go back to my friends, now, understand? You need to stay with your pack."

As Lara was about to walk away, Tsume followed her.

"...You don't want to leave me, do you?" Lara asked, which caused the wolf to go up and nuzzle her hip and lick her fingers.

"...All right," said Lara. "You can stay with me, for now...but don't stay long...I don't want you to die, too."

Tsume whimpered as he followed after Lara.

On their way back to the boat, they passed through the old army base again.

Tsume showed Lara a large cracked structure in the ground.

Lara used a rope to pull an old heater off the roof and break the floor, which led to a secret room.

Jumping down to it, she found another journal.

" _Months of excavation has at last yielded new information concerning the weather patterns gripping this island. The tomb of an important general dating from the Kamakura period was discovered in our coastal dig site._

 _This discovery is the missing piece of the puzzle. It will allow us to finally gain control of the storm._ "

"They found something in the cliffs," said Lara. "An old tomb. I might find answers there."

Once leaving the base, Lara rode three ziplines after another, carrying Tsume with her legs, until they reached the beach.

She handed the tools to Reyes without saying a word.

Owen ran over and hugged her. He didn't even ask about Alex; since he wasn't with her, he already guessed what happened to him.

"Lara!" Sam limped over and hugged her too.

"We saw the explosion..." Tommy said. "We didn't want to assume the worst, but..."

"Alex?" Sam asked.

"He was still on the ship," Lara said, sitting down. "His leg was crushed by debris before I got to him. ...We were ambushed... he told me to go... then he caused the explosion."

"I am very sorry..." Levi said.

"It's not your fault, man," Tommy said. "Dammit! First Grim, then Roth, now Alex?! How many more people we gon' lose?!"

"We're not losing anyone else," Lara said with conviction and determination.

"Damn right, we're not," said Reyes, "because we're getting off this island."

"First," Jonah said as he roasted some fish, "let's eat dinner."

"...Where's Whitman?" asked Lara.

"Where do you think?" Tommy asked as he glared at the spot where Whitman was sitting. "We haven't taken our eyes off him since you left."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A minute later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Seven fish skeletons were on the ground by the fire, having just been consumed.

"Save a man's stomach, save his soul," Jonah stated.

"Finally, a little positivity!" Whitman said. "Once Reyes finishes the boat, we'll be back to civilization in no time... and what a tale we'll have to tell."

"A tale?" Sam questioned. "I hope I never hear Himiko's name again!"

"Amen sister!" Tommy agreed.

"We can take the boat out at high tide," Reyes said.

"No," Lara interrupted. "We can't..!"

"Don't start that bullshit again, Lara!" Reyes demanded.

"Reyes, whether you want to believe it or not, it's true," Owen said. "Trust us!"

"Lara and Owen aren't the only ones who think we're trapped, Reyes," Sam said. "Mathias may be insane, but he was certain about it. I saw it in his eyes."

"He thinks resurrecting Himiko is the key to getting off this island," Levi said. "But I've always thought it was something else."

"God, it sounds crazy," said Sam, "But this whole place is crazy."

"These storms aren't natural," said Lara. "We have to face that."

"She's right," said Jonah. "When that storm hit the Endurance, I felt it...something dark...something alive. This place is cursed."

"...Himiko's angry about something," said Tommy. "We just don't know what...yet."

"Um..." Whitman stammered. "Is someone going to acknowledge the wolf in the room?" He pointed nervously at Tsume, who was laying in between Lara and Owen.

"He's with us," said Owen. "And I thought I told you to keep your mouth shut over there."

Lara stood up.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked.

"There are ruins beneath that old base in the cliffs," Lara said. "Something in there led them to believe they could control the storms. I've got to find out what they discovered."

"I'm going with you this time," Owen stood up, along with Tsume. "Okay, WE."

"Once we're ready to leave, we're leaving," Reyes said. "Whether you're back or not."

"No, we're not," Tommy said. "It's suicide. We're not gonna just walk to our deaths just because you refuse to believe or trust us, Reyes."

"Well, excuse me for having a daughter who's waiting for me to come home!" Reyes argued.

"That should be all the more reason for you to trust us!" Tommy argued back.

"Enough!" Jonah yelled. "We fight amongst ourselves, we lose!"

"We won't leave without you," Sam said.

With that, Lara, Owen and Tsume began their climb back up the mountain.

* * *

Poor Alex...

Who wanted Whitman to get punched?

Red and review, please!


	14. Chapter 13: Himiko's Curse

I own nothing from Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

* * *

 **Chapter 13: Himiko's Curse**

Lara used her bow and rope ascender to open up a metal gate, then used her pickaxe to pull a lever that brought down a lift.

Then she and Owen started climbing a rock wall, while Tsume took one of his tunnels.

Lara then used her bow to shoot another arrow into a cliff with a rope attached before she and Owen made their way across with the rope ascender, then they began to climb up some old water towers and ladders.

"At this rate," Owen began, "All this climbing is gonna turn me into a monkey."

Despite the situation, Lara couldn't help but chuckle, just a little. At least Owen knew how to lighten a mood.

They eventually made it inside the base, where Tsume, Hana and their pups were waiting for them.

They seemed to know what Lara and Owen were looking for, so they led the way.

The inside was almost like a labyrinth, but at least the way was lit by torches and candles.

When they found a wrecked room with some furniture and a campfire, they heard more Solarii voices nearby.

"Get down...!" whispered Owen as he and Lara both took cover.

"Oh shit, look at all those bodies."

"Keep it down!"

"The Oni are here!"

"Yeah, you want 'em to find us?"

"Just shut up! And keep your eyes open for the girl."

On one of the desks was another journal.

"...I don't think they saw us, yet," said Owen. "Hurry and go read it."

Lara nodded before she hurried over to the journal to look.

" _Soon after we discovered the tomb, they came, the Oni, First the lights went out. Then… then the screaming started. Was it us or them? That horrible sound, it still rings in my head. They wore the armor of my ancestors… they, they cut us down with ancient blades._

 _Gunfire, shouting, blood. We couldn't stop them. Everything turned to chaos. And then silence. They were gone._

 _Why did they leave? Why didn't they kill us all? Captain Osaka is in command now. We… we are leaving the base, but not the island. We're heading inland, to the Monastery. There is no other way. We must follow the Oni, all of us, If we can't control the star, we must destroy it._

 _But I know… we… we're all going to die._ "

"That same soldier," whispered Lara. "Again, he mentions the Oni...could it be that thing we saw in the monastery?"

"Maybe," Owen whispered back.

In the next room, they saw two men.

They snuck up behind them and stabbed them. A third guy came up through a hole in the floor, but Lara shot him with an arrow.

They continued moving forward, finding an old elevator.

In the next room, they saw two men.

They snuck up behind them and stabbed them. A third guy came up through a hole in the floor, but Lara shot him with an arrow.

They continued moving forward, finding an old elevator.

Lara turned it on, but the sound of old, creaking metal made her and Owen cover their ears.

They had to pull out some old parts to get the thing working.

Once they did, the elevator started going up into some sort of research room.

They ran through more of the wrecked base until they found the ruins they were looking for.

Up some stone steps was someone wearing shogun armor, kneeling in front of a painting on the wall.

Tsume, Hana and their pups refused to step anywhere near it.

"It's okay," Owen petted them before he and Lara went to investigate.

There were twin statues on both sides of the platform.

"These figures...warriors..." Lara observed. "They were in Himiko's tomb. They protected her."

In the painting was a man standing below Himiko, who was glowing with the sun. The man was holding a sword.

"Is this you?" Owen asked the shogun armor, which had a skeleton in it. "Were you some kind of general?"

The shogun's katana was stabbed into his stomach.

"You committed seppuku," Lara said. "But why?"

Owen then pulled out the blade with which the samurai used to do the deed.

"Jeez, it almost looks new," said Owen.

"It's beautiful," said Lara as she touched the blade, only to hiss as she felt the edge. "And still sharp."

That's when Owen opened up the hilt of the sword and found something inside: a piece of rolled up paper.

"Hey, look at this!" Owen said as he took it out.

He unrolled it, revealing some Japanese writing...

" _I have failed my queen. The ritual was corrupted. The priestess knew only death could save her and took her own life. Now the first and last Queen lives a half-life, a soul in a decaying body. Her rage became the storms and would not stop while her soul is tied to this earth. My Stormguard are sworn to protect her. They must continue, but I cannot._ "

"Jesus fuck..." Owen cursed. "So that priestess from the journal killed herself during this ritual..."

"Himiko's soul is trapped in a decaying body, that's what's causing the storms!" Lara realized, then pulled out the map of the island. "To stop the storms, we need to destroy the body in the ritual chamber."

"Mathias had it all wrong," Owen said. "Himiko's time was over long ago."

"How are we going to convince the others?" Lara asked.

"Reyes is the only one that doesn't believe," Owen said. "We need her to trust us."

That's when Tsume began to growl viciously.

"What's up, Tsume?" asked Owen.

"They're in the old tomb," a voice said. "Set those charges."

"Oh, crap," Owen cursed. "We gotta get outta here, Lara, now!"

"Tsume, Hana, take your pups and go!" Lara told them. "We'll be okay!"

They gently picked up their puppies and fled into their tunnels.

The charges blew up the way Lara and Owen came in.

More Solarii came in through some of the old construction.

Naturally, the Power Couple had to fight the Solarii off, shooting them down and then finishing them with their pickaxes and knives if they ever got too close. Hell, Owen actually used the seppuku blade!

Once they were all dead, they climbed up the scaffoldings and headed down a dark tunnel that led outside.

" **Lara, Owen, where the hell are you?!** " Reyes's voice yelled from the radio, gunfire was heard in the background.

"What's happening?!" Lara exclaimed.

" **We're under attack!** " Reyes yelled. " **We need help!** "

More gunfire was heard.

"We'd better hurry!" Owen said.

With that, they hurried back to their friends as fast as they could.

They climbed down the walls, killing a couple Solarii. They could hear fighting on the radio.

After ascending up a rope, then riding down a zipline, they made it back.

Reyes was laying against the boat, with a bullet graze on her left shoulder.

"Reyes!" Owen ran over and helped her up.

"Are you okay?" Lara asked.

"Yeah...thanks..." Reyes responded, clearly shaken. "I thought that was it for me..."

"HELP!" Tommy's voice called. They saw him carrying Levi.

Owen ran over, "What happened?!"

"Guy took a bullet for me," Tommy said.

Levi had a bullet hole in his chest, where his heart was.  
"...Now they think I'm dead."

Tommy was so surprised, he dropped him,  
"Son of a bitch! Pretending to be dead?!"

"Sorry," Levi laughed, pulling out a journal from inside his coat. The bullet that hit hiss chest was blocked by it.  
"They already wanted me dead. I thought I was hit, until... But, perfect opportunity..."

"Can't kill you if they already think you're dead," Owen finished.

Jonah came running back, "There's no sign of them..."

"What happened?" Lara asked.

"That snake, Whitman took Sam during the attack and disappeared!" Tommy exclaimed.

"He's taking her back to Mathias," Lara realized.

"Dammit!" Owen cursed. "That moron doesn't know what he's dealing with!"

"We should have listened," said Reyes. "...I...should have listened."

"It doesn't matter anymore, Reyes," said Owen. "We have to get Sam back."

"So what's our next move?" asked Jonah.

"...We should get help," said Reyes.

"I bet they thought that, too!" Lara interjected.

"Look, you were right about Whitman, but-" Reyes tried to say.

"You've seen the storms," Lara interrupted. "They target any craft that comes near."

"There were scientists here during World War II, and they believed the storms were being controlled by something in a ritual chamber near the monastery," Owen explained. "Look, we don't have all the answers, but Sam being taken is connected to this. And if we try to leave here without understanding why, then we'll ALL, DIE. Just like the pilots, ...just like Roth."

"Look," Jonah said to Reyes. "Whatever's happening here, Lara and Owen deserve a shot."

"We can't go back to their stronghold," Reyes said. "It'd be suicide."

Lara got out her map of the island, "They won't take her there. They'll take her to the ritual chamber. We can use this inlet to get closer."

She looked at Reyes and placed her hand on her right shoulder,  
"Look... I know you want to get home to your daughter, believe me, I do. But the fight's not over yet. I'm not asking you to believe, Reyes, I'm asking you to trust."

Reyes nodded, "Okay. Let's get this thing in the water."

Soon, everyone got on board the PT boat and began to sail inland to find the Solarii's stronghold, with Levi pointing them the way.

As they got deeper in...

"Lara," said Reyes, "What do you and Owen expect to find here?"

"You really wanna know?" asked Owen.

"No," Reyes answered, "But you should tell me anyway."

"The Sun Queen, Himiko," Owen explained. "Her soul is trapped in a dead body. We don't know why, yet. But her rage is causing the storms. If we destroy the dead body, the storms will stop."

"Right..." Reyes understood. "But why does Mathias want Sam?"

"We don't know," Lara said. "And that's what's scaring me the most."

"Look, we know this is crazy, Reyes, but-" Owen started.

"Oh, I know," Reyes replied, "But right now, crazy is all we got."

They eventually found a cave entrance, where Jonah docked.

"Alright, let's go."

He, Reyes, Tommy and Levi were all prepared to go in.

"No," Lara told them. "I'll need the rest of you to guard the main entrance while Owen and I go in after Sam."

"Just the two of you?" Reyes questioned.

"We've made it this far," Owen said.

"Besides, more people means more danger of being spotted," Lara said. "I need you here taking out as many of those bastards as you can. It won't just be Solarii either. There will be... others. Samurai, the Queen's Stormguard. Anything that's not me, Owen, Sam, or our wolf friends, shoot it."

"...Try not to die in there," said Tommy.

"Trust us, that's the last thing we wanna do," said Owen. "The VERY last thing."

He and Tommy then bumped fists...before they hugged.

"My Little Bird," Jonah said. "This isn't goodbye, I'm not going to say goodbye."

"We've got your back, Lara," said Reyes.

Lara smiled...before she went up and hugged them both.

"Thank you..." she whispered before she let go, then turned to Owen. "Let's go, Owen."

"Yeah," Owen nodded before they left while Reyes, Tommy, Jonah, and Levi sat on the boat and watched them. However, Levi seemed...a bit anxious.

"Something wrong?" asked Tommy.

"...Just thinking," Levi answered.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lara and Owen climbed up several rock walls, then ran through a tunnel.

They came to a small opening and saw Mathias pulling Sam along, Whitman walking beside them.

Sam was dressed in a white sleeveless kimono, and wearing a crown of flowers.

"Sam, she's still alive," Lara whispered in relief.

"What the hell are you doing, Whitman?" Owen whispered, angrily.

They were approaching the monastery, where two samurai stood in front of the entrance.

"The Stormguard," Lara stated.

"Who are these...people?" asked Whitman with a bit wariness in his voice.

"They guard the monastery," said Mathias. "They wait only to be introduced to their new queen by the one who brought her back to us."

"...It's a trap," Owen whispered.

"What?" Lara asked.

"Mathias is using him," Owen answered.

"Ah, of course," Whitman bought it, cause he's an idiot. "Of course. I've encountered these archaic tribes before. Let's get some awards James."

"Dumbass is gonna get himself killed," Owen whispered.

Whitman walked forward, "My name is Dr. James Whitman. I come to you in peace. I bring you your new queen. Your Queen. ...Uh, what is it in Japanese? ...Joou..."

Since he said the wrong name, the Stormguard drew their katana and sliced Whitman to pieces.

Lara looked away, but Owen watched every minute.

Mathias pulled Sam and ran past the Stormguard while they were distracted, while Lara and Owen jumped down and ran after them.

"...Well...you can't say he didn't have it coming," said Owen as he kept running after Mathias and Sam with Lara.

Mathias and Sam crossed the bridge to the entrance, but as the Stormguard ran across it, it was blown away by super powerful winds.

Sam looked back and saw her friends, "LARA, OWEN!"

"SAM!" Lara called.

But she was dragged inside.

"Dammit!" Owen cursed as he looked around. "We gotta find another way in!"

"Over there!" Lara replied as she pointed to a cliff on the other side. She shot a rope into it with her arrow before she and Owen made their way across on the rope ascender.

What they didn't realize...was that the whole time, they were being followed.

They made their way through the monastery, sneaking past the Stormguard.

They were all marching about through the hallways and corridors, holding spears and weapons.

They climbed along the walls, but knocked some old skulls down when they jumped to a window, causing one of the guard to see them.

Once they got through the window, they ran down the tunnel as fire arrows were shot at them.

"Run!" Owen shouted as they began to run away, but as they did, the room began to explode behind them, forcing them to run faster until they managed to jump up onto a cliff.

They fell into another tunnel, and ran into more Stormguard.

This time, they had to shoot them.

They proved to be tougher than the Solarii...because the Stormguard were almost like zombies.

"How could they still be alive after all this time?" Lara wondered out loud.

They ran further down the tunnel till they came to a makeshift fortress in a valley filled with strong winds.

What's worse, the Stormguard were sounding the bells.

* * *

Sorry to end it here, but I don't want the next chapter to be too short.

We're coming to the final battle!

Read and review, please!


	15. Chapter 14: Mathias and Himiko's End

Alright everybody, THIS IS IT!

Time for the final battle!

I own nothing from Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

* * *

 **Chapter 14: Mathias and Himiko's End**

As the Oni began to surround Lara and Owen...a particularly big one came bursting out of the gates, holding a massive mace!

"...I think we're in trouble," said Owen.

They quickly dodged a volley of fire arrows.

There were some red balls tied with rope lying around.

"I think these are flammable," Owen said, grabbing one. "I'll throw, you shoot!"

"Got it!" Lara responded.

A group of Stormguard ran towards them, then Owen threw the ball and Lara shot it, making it explode.

"Yeah!" Owen cheered as the Stormguard were caught in the explosion.

"All that baseball practice paid off!" Lara said.

They started moving toward the monastery, killing any more Stormguard that attacked them.

Then they ran into the big one...and this one wasn't pulling any punches. It swung its gigantic mace at the two, forcing them to run out of the way.

"Look out!" Owen shouted as he ducked down, while Lara ran for cover.

The already strong winds got stronger and almost blew them away, but they used their knife and pickaxe to stay on the ground.

The wind blew the pieces of a wrecked bridge at the giant Stormguard, and knocked him into the wind.

"...Well...that takes care of that guy," said Owen.

"I have a feeling he might be back," said Lara.

They headed inside the temple, where they found another journal.

This one was written by Whitman...

" _Well, it had to be done. Lara left me no choice. If I thought she and her arm candy could play the game, I might have let them in on my plan. But they don't have the grit for this business. They aren't ruthless enough. And this discovery has to be mine. I've crossed the line. It won't look good, so... as unfortunate as it may be, they can't make it off this island. None of them can._

 _And whatever happens with Sam... it just makes this whole story all the more newsworthy. I don't think Mathias or his Solarii can be reasoned with, so I'll need to slip away once this ritual is completed. I'll make the perfect sole survivor, returning with the authorities, the cameras... and an appropriately convincing expression of sorrow._ "

"Well, look where that got ya, you piece of shit," Owen snarled. "Hope you burn hell."

"He cared more about his reputation and glory," Lara scoffed. "I can't believe I actually respected him before I actually met him!"

They entered a large chamber with a big gate.

They used a lift to bring up a big cage and used it to break open a wall.

They lowered the cage to jump to it, then jumped from it to the hole in the wall.

The next room was filled with gold statues. One of Himiko on her throne, and eight encircling three pictures in the floor. The pictures were of Himiko's fire ritual.

"The Sun Queens..." Lara stated. "The fire ritual where the Queen chooses her successor. The chosen priestess enters the monastery, and she's given your power and becomes the new queen."

Owen looked at the pictures on the floor, then gasped, "...No...!"

They remembered: Mathias said, " _Many have given up their souls willingly for this gift._ " And the Stormguard General who killed himself wrote in his scroll, " _Now the first and last queen lives a half-life, a soul in a decaying body._ "

Lara gasped as well, "Vessels... it's not transferring power, it's transferring a soul. All these Queens, they were all... you. Himiko... first and last."

"No wonder the priestess killed herself during the ritual," Owen said. "She knew what was going to happen to her, and she wanted to die in a more sensible way than have her soul snuffed out of her own body."

"Oh God, and now Himiko wants Sam," Lara stepped forward to glare at the Himiko statue. "Well, you're not getting her!"

"Your day is long since over, you evil bitch!" Owen flicked the statue off, then they left the chamber.

As they ran out, the winds began to get stronger...as if signifying Himiko's growing rage.

They ran down a dark tunnel, filled with torches and a statue of a guardian-like man.

There was a campsite, most likely the last one they'd see before this whole nightmare was over.

They decided to take this time to rest and upgrade their equipment.

They heard pattering feet behind them, and saw Tsume and Hana coming toward them.

The two wolves approached them, lying at their sides. One look and they could tell...the final battle was coming.

Once they all composed themselves, they headed for the exit door and pried it open.

Outside was an almost snowstorm. And in front of them was a massive mountain fortress.

They pushed against the wind and ran across the bridge to the foot of the mountain fortress.

They saw Mathias holding Sam like a hostage.

"HEY, ASSHOLE!" Owen shouted.

"Lara, Owen!" Sam exclaimed, relieved.

Lara aimed an arrow at them, "Mathias, why are you doing this?!"

"Do you think you're heroes?" Mathias questioned. "Everything I did, I did to survive! How many lives have you taken to do the same? There are no heroes here, only survivors!"

"It may have been like that in the beginning for you!" Owen replied. "But now you're a murdering psychopath with delusions of grandeur!"

"Himiko's dangerous, Mathias!" Lara yelled. "She's angry, she's vengeful and she has real power!"

"A mere mortal for a queen?!" Mathias ranted. "A good trade for our freedom I'd say!"

Lighting struck the ground between them, but luckily it didn't hit them. Unfortunately, it gave Mathias the chance to slip away with Sam.

"Argh! Dammit!" cursed Lara.

"We gotta hurry and catch up with him!" Owen shouted, and that's when they heard Tsume bark. They turned and saw him and Hana running into a cave, where they followed him inside and had to climb the rock walls to get to the other side. As they made it up, they found themselves surrounded by wind. They forced themselves to keep climbing up the cliffs, determined to free Sam from Mathias before Himiko could transfer her soul to her body.

They had to break through some old wooden structures of the temple as they kept climbing.

When they got high enough to overlook the bridge...

" **Lara, Owen, watch out!** " Reyes's voice said from the radio. " **Those bastards are coming your way! We did everything we could to slow them down!** "

They saw an army of Stormguard running across the bridge into the mountain, coming for them.

"Thanks, Reyes," Lara said. "Get to the boat... if we're not back..."

" **We're not leaving without you,** " Reyes told them. " **We'll be waiting.** "

With that, they continued their treacherous climb up the mountain fortress.

Even as the wind raged and the snow and boulders fell, they pushed themselves onward, dodging rubble and old lanterns...until they finally reached the top. However...they found Mathias, standing with his arms outstretched while Sam kneeled before what looked like some sort of old, wooden statue of a woman dressed in old Japanese garb. Her hair was styled with all these pins.

"Is that...Himiko?" asked Owen.

"O great Queen!" exclaimed Mathias. "Through the trials, I have brought you the vessel! Pour forth and return to this mortal coil! Pour forth and be reborn! Pour forth...AND AWAKEN!"

All of a sudden, the statue came alive...and it began letting out a blood-curdling scream as a bright light shined from it...and began to go into Sam!

"SAM!" Lara and Owen cried.

Lara fired a fire arrow at Himiko, but the wind blew it out of control.

Then she, Owen, Tsume and Hana pushed through the wind, which was getting stronger as they ran toward the ritual.

Unfortunately, more Solarii appeared, shouting about defending Mathias and Himiko.

Lara and Owen killed a couple of them as Tsume howled into the winds.

The rest of the wolf pack came out of nowhere of attacked the Solarii, Tsume and Hana not far behind them.

Strangely enough, the wolves seemed stronger and faster than ever. They killed all the men with no casualties whatsoever. It's like they knew what was happening, and their determination to prevent it had given them a boost in their abilities.

"Damn," Owen was impressed. "It's like they're all high from the full moon!"

"...That's because there IS a full moon!" Lara said. "Look! In the sky!"

Owen looked up and saw that Lara was right: there was a full moon out, despite it being obscured by the wind, clouds, and snow...the wolves could still feel its rays.

Tsume then looked to Owen and Lara...before he nodded his head, as if to say "Go...and finish this!"

They ran forward, but the wind kicked up again.

Everyone used their knives, pickaxes and claws to hang on to the ground.

The storm started blowing the place apart, but Lara and Owen pressed on.

Two more Solarii were killed by a Stormguard giant.

Working together, the power couple made fairly quick work of it, then they ran towards Sam.

Once they were close enough, Lara aimed a fire arrow at Himiko.

No!" Mathias shot the bow out of her hands.

He then charged at them, but Owen was ready and choke-slammed him to the ground.  
"Himiko's time is over! She needs to die for us to be free!"

"You're wrong!" Mathias shouted, punching him in the face and getting on top of him. "She will grant us true-"

Before he could finish his delusional rant, Lara shot him in the shoulder with her pistol. Owen grabbed the pistol Mathias had and threw it to her, before kicking him off of him.

"YOU BELIEVE IN HIMIKO SO MUCH?!" Lara yelled, aiming both pistols at Mathias. "THEN YOU CAN MEET HER, IN HELL!"

Then she opened fire!

Mathias cried out as Lara kept shooting at him, over and over, knocking him backward toward a cliff...and Owen couldn't help but gape in awe at his girlfriend.

There was something about seeing her wield two pistols that seemed so...badass.

Finally, Mathias fell off the cliff, letting out a long, sharp scream as he fell to his death.

Lara looked down at him as he fell, then holstered the pistols.

"Hand me the torch!" Owen shouted over the winds. Lara lit the torch and gave it to him before he ran over to the pedestal.

He turned the torch upside-down, and with a yell of fury, he stuck the flame into Himiko's chest!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Himiko screamed as the fire burned her rotted old corpse...before she finally exploded in a burst of light into nothingness.

It was over...Himiko was finally gone from this world.

Breathing sighs of relief, the two went to check Sam.

And she was already stirring awake.

"Oh Sam, thank God," Lara knelt down to hold her head in her lap.

Owen knelt down too, "We made it, kiddo."

"Uhh...wha?" Sam groaned. "Lara...Owen... what's happening?"

"Shhh..." Lara comforted. "I'm here... we're here. You're safe now, it's okay."

Sam coughed a bit, "You saved me... I knew you would."

"I made you a promise," Lara reminded her.

"Now, let's go home," Owen said.

The sun started to shine as the storm clouds began to disappear, now that Himiko was gone.

Tsume, Hana and their pack approached them.

Lara and Owen looked at each other, then at Sam, then back at the pack before they approached. Owen got down on his knees before he put his hands on the sides of Tsume's face.

"...Thank you, Tsume," he whispered, which caused him to lick his face.

"...I guess this is goodbye," said Lara. "We'll never forget you."

Tsume whined in response.

Owen then had an idea, "Hey Lara, doesn't your house and estate have a large forest around it?"

"Yes," Lara answered. "Why are you...oh!"

Owen smiled as she pet Tsume.

"How would you and your family like to come with us?" asked Owen, causing Tsume's eyes to go wide...before he jumped on him and began to lick his face, all over.

"Hahahahahaha!" Owen laughed. "Okay, okay! Stop! Down, boy!"

Lara laughed at this, as well.

"...Come on," she said. "Let's go home...all of us."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Scene Change~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

At the boat, Tommy, Jonah, Reyes and Levi all looked up in awe as the storm clouds disappeared.

A couple hours later; Lara, Owen, Sam, Tsume, Hana and their puppies came out of the woods.

"I see Owen and Lara, they've got Sam!" Tommy exclaimed.

"They did it," Jonah said in relief.

Reyes smiled, looking like she was about to cry.

Owen carried Sam over to the boat, where Jonah took her and set her down.

"She's gonna be okay," Owen said.

"Is Whitman...?" Reyes asked.

"Dead," Lara answered.

"Good," Tommy said. "He was scum."

"You have no idea," Owen said.

"So...these guys are coming with us?" asked Jonah, pointing to Tsume and his family.

"Yep," said Owen. "They're living on Lara's estate."

"...You know...a wolf seems fitting for you guys," said Reyes.

Tsume barked in agreement.

"...So it's over, then," Levi said before he smiled. "...I can finally go home to my family."

"Yes...it's over," Lara said. "We can all go home."

"Alright, let's get the hell out of here," Reyes went to the controls and steered the boat out to sea.

* * *

ALRIGHT, MATHIAS AND HIMKO ARE DEAD!

Fang and I didn't want Lara and Owen to say goodbye to Tsume, Hana and their pups.

Now, there's one more chapter. An epilogue, with a big surprise~! ;)

Read and review!


	16. Epilogue: Home

The last chapter!

Lemon warning. Don't like, don't read.

I own nothing from Tomb Raider. Owen and any other OCs belong to me and XFangHeartX.

* * *

 **Epilogue: Home**

After a few hours out at sea; a freighter found the group of survivors and brought them aboard, giving them a lift back home.

Sam was so exhausted...all she wanted to do was lie down.

Once they were back on dry land, everyone went to the hospital to treat their wounds.

Reyes and Levi had a couple serious injuries, Jonah and Tommy had no scrapes whatsoever.

Sam was fine physically, but emotionally and mentally would be determined later.

Lara and Owen had more wounds than all of them, Lara more so.

Tsume and Hana, as well as their puppies, had to be taken to a vet at a local zoo, but Lara and Owen were promised custody of the wolves as soon as they were out of the hospital.

During their stay, Levi's family had been contacted and he had been happily reunited with them. His wife and children had never given up hope that he would one day return to them. However, he decided not to tell them about the Solarii until he was sure they were ready. After a few more days, he was released with a clean bill of health, but he was told that he did have to see a psychiatrist, every now and then. He didn't mind it, though, as long as he was back with his family.

Before they left, Levi's daughter, a 12-year-old girl named Abigail, thanked Lara and Owen for bringing her father back home to her. She even gave them both a hug.

Everyone else's families were also contacted. They had all heard on the news that the signal of The Endurance was lost in the Dragon's Triangle. Since then, they'd been worried or grief stricken. But now hearing that they were alive, they couldn't be happier.

Reyes reunited with her daughter, Alisha.

As for Owen, he was happily reunited with his younger sister, Lisa. She did yell at him for almost giving her a panic attack, but she ultimately gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek for coming home, safely. She also hugged Lara, as well, for keeping an eye on Owen.

"Hey!" Owen exclaimed.

"Oh, come on, you know I'm kidding!" said Lisa.

Memorials were held for Roth, Alex and Grim.

Reyes did cry, but not very much.

A couple days later, Owen's parents offered everyone to have dinner at their house to officially welcome everyone home. And they didn't take no for an answer.

Even Levi and his family were invited.

It was such a fun time, and the food was delicious: turkey, salads, shrimp cocktail, and of course, beverages.

Tommy leaned over to whisper to Owen, "You still got it?"

"Yep," Owen replied, patting his pocket.

"What are you talking about over there?" Lisa asked.

"Bro-secret," Tommy said.

"Mm-hmm," Lisa hummed. "Sure."

"This is delicious," said Lara as she ate some turkey.

"Yeah, better than eating boar and deer," said Levi.

"I can only imagine," Owen's mother, Phoebe said.

"So, Lara," Lisa said. "Owen tells me how you looked so badass with those two pistols."

"Oh...he told you that?" Lara asked with a bit of a blush.

"He said, and I quote; "She reminded me of Revy from Black Lagoon"," Lisa said.

"That is pretty awesome," said Tommy.

"I still can't believe Dr. Whitman turned out to be a self-important asshole," Phoebe said.

"You never know what some celebrities can be like," Sean, Owen's father said.

"To think I once idolized him," said Lara, "but he's better off dead."

"So, how're you're wolf friends?" Sean asked. "Are they settling in okay?"

"They're fine," said Lara. "The pups are growing, quite nicely."

"I think Winston is relieved that they mostly stay outside so he doesn't have to clean after them," Owen joked, making everyone laugh.

"It's funny," said Lara. "I never expected to own wolves. They're not like dogs."

"I never thought I'd get so close to a wolf," Abigail said. "It was incredible."

"Wolves are pretty amazing animals," said Owen. "You just have to give them the respect they deserve."

"Just like Davis taught you," Sean said, referring to his big brother.

"Yeah," said Owen. "It's too bad he couldn't be here...especially tonight."

"Why tonight?" asked Lara.

Owen took a deep breath, "...Lara?"

"Yes?" she responded.

"I did a lot of thinking about this," Owen said. "Even before the expedition. I was gonna do it after we got back...but then the wreck. ...Even though I was trying to stay positive, I was honestly not sure if we'd make it out of that whole thing alive. But we did, and now I'm more sure about it than ever..."

He got out of his chair and got down on one knee in front of her. She gasped, putting her hands to her mouth.

Sam and Lisa had similar reactions. Everyone else was also shocked, except Tommy, who was smiling.

Owen reached into his right pocket and pulled out a black velvet box,

"Lara Angelina Croft, will you marry me?"

Lara just sat there, staring. Reyes crossed her fingers while Levi, Katherine, and their kids stared. Lisa was quietly whispering "Please say yes", over and over...when finally...

"...Yes...!" Lara answered with tears falling from her eyes. "Yes, I will, Owen!"

She knelt down to hug him tightly as everyone applauded.

He opened the box, revealing a butterfly designed, sterling silver ring with a round cut diamond in the middle and aquamarine side stones. Inside the band was an inscription, "OWEN & LARA 4EVER".

Lara laughed as she hugged Owen tightly and even kissed him on the lips.

He slipped the ring onto her left ring finger as they kept kissing.

At last...they had taken a new brand new step into their lives.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A half hour later~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Levi and his family, and Reyes and Alisha had left for the night.

Phoebe was in the kitchen cleaning the dishes.

Lara was upstairs, taking a shower.

Everyone else was in the living room.

Lisa was playfully beating on her brother, "You ass! Why didn't you tell me you were going to propose to her?!"

"As her best friend, You should have asked for my permission," Sam scolded, playfully.

"I wanted it to be a surprise!" said Owen.

"Well, you succeeded," Jonah said.

"You both deserve it, son," Sean said. "After everything you two have been through."

"Thanks Dad," Owen said.

Tommy yawned, "Oh man, I'm beat!"

"You're tired already, Tiny-Tom~!" Lisa teased.

"Oh, shut up," Tommy playfully flicked her off. "You weren't out all day with your brother trying to find the right ring."

Owen chuckled, then stood up, "I think I'm gonna turn in."

"You two play nice~!" Lisa teased.

"Leave your brother alone, Lisa," Sean scolded her. "Just try not to be too loud."

"Dad!" Owen exclaimed, causing Sean to laugh.

Soon, Owen was in his room. It had several kinds of artifacts and old fossils, like an ancient gladiator helmet from Rome, a shark tooth necklace, and even some old arrowheads. Plus, he had some Indiana Jones posters.

As soon as he sat down on his bed, the door to the bathroom that was connected to his room opened.

Lara was stepping out, wearing nothing but a towel and her jade trinket necklace. She was currently drying her hair with another towel when she noticed Owen sitting there.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "Owen..."

"Hey," said Owen as he scooted over on the bed. "Why don't you come and sit?"

Blushing deeply, Lara went to sit next to him.

"...So...how are you feeling?" asked Owen.

"...A lot of things," Lara replied.

"Well, what are you feeling the most?" asked Owen. "Come on, tell me." He then put his hand on Lara's hand, causing her to look at him.

"...I feel...happy...but sad, too," said Lara.

"Yeah, me too," Owen replied.

"...Roth," Lara said, sadly.

"...I miss him, too, Lara," said Owen, "but he wouldn't want us to mourn him for too long."

Lara sniffled a little as she wiped her eyes...then looked down at the ring on her finger, which caused her to smile.

"...Do you think...he'd be happy right now?" asked Lara.

"...I think so," said Owen. "Him and your dad both."

Lara smiled as she looked at Owen...before she kissed him.

Owen was a bit surprised, but then he kissed her back as he gently put his arms around her.

She pulled him closer as their kiss got more passionate.

She pulled his shirt off, then rubbed her hands over his rock-hard abs.

Lara loved everything about Owen as she got to know him. His personality, his brains and his heart. Plus, he was very handsome. He even had a great bod.

First time Lara saw him without a shirt, she thought, "Bloody hell...! It's like you could grate cheese on those things!"

His build was somewhere between John Cena and Chris Pratt.

And Lara...oh, god, Lara...her hair, her beautiful, buxom curves...her kindness, her fierceness, her determination...Owen just loved every last bit of her and then some, if it was possible.

Before long...Lara had Owen pinned to the bed.

"Oh, someone's eager?" He teased.

Lara smirked...before she began to loosen her towel.

Her breasts soon bounced freely as soon as the towel fell on the bed...and not long after, Owen felt something come alive down in his nether region.

He threw the towel off the bed and began groping Lara's voluptuous, full sized cans, making her moan.

"Owen...!" she said, biting on her lip. Some of her hair got caught in her mouth, and something about that only turned Owen on even more. He started squeezing and fondling her breasts and pinched her nipples a little, causing her to moan even more.

He sat up, about to suck her nipples when he asked, "I always wondered, what's your size?"

"34...D.." Lara gasped out between moans.

"I thought that might have been it," said Owen before he began to suck on them, causing Lara to moan, even more.

"Oh, god...oh, god...!" she panted.

As he kept licking and sucking her nipples, he slapped and twerked her sexy butt around.

"Mmph!" Lara let out a muffled cry of surprise as she bit her lip.

Then she reached for his pants.

He stopped teasing her breasts to take his pants and boxers off.

Now they were both naked in front of each other for the first time.

Lara's eyes nearly popped out of her head at how big his dick was.

"...You...you okay?" Owen asked.

"...I...I don't know," Lara replied.

Owen looked at Lara before he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Lara," he said. "It's okay...I understand if you don't wanna do this...especially after what happened to you."

A pause...but then Lara smiled.

"Owen," said Lara, "What happens here...it won't be like what happened on Yamatai...because it will be with you."

He smiled, "Okay."

She took his dick in her hands and began to stroke it,  
"Oh my God, it's huge! How...?"

Knowing what she was gonna ask, he answered,  
"10 inches, 26 centimeters."

Lara felt her face blush completely red.

"Scared?" He teased.

"...Never," said Lara, causing Owen to smirk.

"Then...sit on it," he said.

"No," she replied, before laying down on her back. "Try and dominate me."

"...You...you sure about that?" Owen asked.

"I wouldn't ask you if I wasn't," said Lara. "Owen...I want this."

Owen got on top of her and kissed her,  
"I love you."

"I love you, too," Lara said.

He guided himself into her vagina. She was already wet, so he slid right in.

She gasped at his size,  
"Oh my God, oh-my-God, oh-my-God, oh-my-God, oh-my-God, oh-my-God, that is fucking huge!"

Soon, Owen began to thrust, nice and slow for her.

She could barely contain her voice from his sheer size,  
"It's so big, it's tearing me apart! Oh my Gohod!"

Owen smirked as he increased his pace a little, but still thrusted slowly. He knew she'd react like this when he fucked her for the first time.

Part of him was still furious at Vladimir for taking away Lara's virginity first, but he knew he would make it a hundred times better for Lara.

As he kept going, he began to tease her breasts again, squeezing them, pinching and tweaking the nips, and then licking them.

"AAAAHHH!" Lara screamed out, raking her nails on his muscled back.

Owen grunted, but he smirked before he began to kiss Lara's neck...and then he bit on it, causing Lara to gasp.

"Oh...oh, god! Yes...!" Lara cried.

On that, Owen started to thrust faster and deeper.

"Oh, I love you!" Lara cried. "I love how your muscles ripple when you're fucking me so deep!"

"Oh, yeah?" asked Owen. "Well, I love how you scream when I fuck you so hard!"

"Keep going!" Lara urged. "I want you to completely come inside me!"

Owen smirked again, then thrusted harder and faster, like a jackhammer.  
"You do know you can get pregnant, right?"

"...I want to," said Lara.

He held her face and kissed her,  
"I love you, babe."

"I love you too," Lara gasped.

After a few more thrusts, he went all the way to her womb and spilled his hot seed inside of her.

She climaxed right as he came inside her.

Soon, Owen collapsed against Lara, who held him close to her heart.

Then, he looked at her, and they smiled at each other...before they kissed, once again.

He moved lay beside her and she placed her head on his shoulder.

She then got a faraway look on her face.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing..." she said.

Owen raised Lara's chin to make her look at him,  
"Come on, you know you can tell me anything."

Lara sighed, "It's just...for years I resented my father, doubted him like everyone else. But all along, he was right, about so much. I just wish I could tell him that now."

"...I think somehow, he knows," said Owen.

"Really?" asked Lara.

"Yeah," Owen smiled. "If you believe that our lost loved ones watch over us."

"Thank you baby," Lara kissed him again. "There are so many mysteries that I once dismissed as mere stories, but the line between our myths and truth is fragile and blurry. ...I need to find answers. I must understand."

"Well, you're not doing it alone," Owen told her.

"...I know," said Lara while Owen hugged her. "I love you so much, Owen."

"I love you too Lara, so much," Owen replied hugging her, then they both fell asleep.

 _ **A SURVIVOR IS BORN**_

* * *

That's the end!

I know Lara doesn't usually have a middle name, but I wanted to give her one. And what better than the name of the first actress to play her on the big screen!

I really enjoyed working on this, and I hope you all enjoy reading it!

There will be sequels to this, but it won't immediately be Rise of the Tomb Raider.

The story will go in a slightly different direction. Don't like it, don't read.

Read and review!


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